Summer Shorts 2019: Series A NYC Reviews and Tickets

67%

(15 Reviews)

Positive

53%

Mixed

40%

Negative

Members say

Disappointing, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Great acting, Indulgent

About the Show

This annual festival of new American short plays returns to 59E59 for its 13th consecutive year. The festival's two series consist of three plays each.

From the show:

Series A

HERE I LIE

By COURTNEY BARON

Strangers Maris and Joseph, a young editor and a nurse, collide in this play about what it means to exercise compassion and self-care, in the face of hardship.

INTERIOR

By NICK PAYNE

It is a seemingly normal day for a small family in a quiet, quaint neighborhood. Two men convene outside. The actions they choose to take in just a few short moments will change the course of this family's life forever.

THE BRIDGE PLAY

By DANIELLE TRZCINSKI

A man stands at the edge of the George Washington Bridge and is about to jump, when an unexpected stranger interrupts him.

Member Reviews (15)

Absorbing (here i lie), Poignant (bridge play), Disappointing (interior)

See it if you want to see 3 loosely connected 1-acts about our obsession with death/illness/suicide, all well-acted & well-staged with mixed results.

Don't see it if ur looking for a full-length narrative or some lite summer fare. [Despite the death theme, it's still an engrossing & entertaining 90 min.]

Disappointing, Slow, Excruciating

See it if On-death-and-dying triptych. Some bad news conveyed, then an attempted leap, and then, a couple addicted to feeling ill sing "Take On Me."

Don't see it if That rarity in an evening of shorts--All are duds. Or as they put it:"Something marches inexorably toward us." Exactly that.

Thought-provoking, Better than expected, Resonant, Intelligent, Absorbing

See it if The theme running through the series is death and the playwrights and actors handle the topic with grace, humor and respect.

Don't see it if you do not like short plays performed back to back; you prefer large, colorful productions. Don't let the topic scare you away, well done.

One of them is a gem

See it if You are willing to sit through two one act plays that are not very good but you do get the pay off of the one in the middle being great

Don't see it if If you are not interested in seeing three plays that all deal with sad and unfortunate situations Read more

Banal, Indulgent, Thought-provoking, Disappointing

See it if you like one-act plays and aren't put off by the theme of death. None of the three plays hits the mark.

Don't see it if you are looking for something original or stirring. Read more

Disappointing

See it if You want a selection of plays with some interesting ideas and quality actors scattered throughout.

Don't see it if You don't want the good moments to be tarnished by some very dull writing and flat acting in other parts of the shows.

Slow, Thought-provoking, Quirky, A mixed bag, Ambitious

See it if you like shorts of varying quality. 1st is tedious, 2nd somewhat disappointing, 3rd very odd but absorbing & disturbing. A mixed bag.

Don't see it if you prefer a full-length play or aren't interested in challenging or potentially disturbing material.

Slow, Indulgent, Cliched, Excruciating, Disappointing

See it if Your attention span is limited and you like short plays with serious themes.

Don't see it if You dislike plays that are depressing and deal with death, illness, and depression involving self-indulgent characters. Read more

Critic Reviews (8)

"At This Theater Festival, Death Crouches in the Wings. Bereavement and self-destruction stalk the plays in Series A of this year’s 'Summer Shorts Festival' in New York."
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"'SUMMER SHORTS' at 59E59 Theaters is an Engaging Seasonal Theatrical Event."
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"A double helix of mendacity and malice; the kind of people one crosses the street to avoid, they would fit comfortably in nearly any novel by Ruth Rendell. Thanks to Baron's icily precise writing and a couple of first-rate performances by fresh faces, Here I Lie makes these human train wrecks seem oddly seductive."
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"Saving the best - and most controversial - for last, the provocative Neil LaBute once again stirs the pot with 'Appomatox.'"
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"Series A of this year's 'Summer Shorts' is unified around the theme of death and dying and how it affects the living. Lest you think that this sounds morbid, the three provocative one-act plays that make up this first program are so beautifully handled that this is a superior theatrical evening."
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"Darker than usual for 'Summer Shorts,' all three plays in 'Series A' tackle suicide and illness…the standout by far is Courtney Baron's attention-grabbing Here I Lie…By exploring the motives of two woefully misguided...people, Baron creates immensely compelling writing."
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"Although the theme of death that threads through each play might seem incongruous with the sunny days of summer, this memento mori triptych does offer something better than sunshine: a penetrating gaze into the human condition from three different authors."
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"The results are a decidedly jumbled bag…Each deals in some way with suicide (possible, potential, and planned), but little else connects them…[In 'Here I Lie'] even the implausible comes to seem plausible and you appreciate the conviction with which such mendacity can hold your interest."
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