The Best We Could (A Family Tragedy) NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsMember Reviews (138)
See it if Entertaining story will absorbing storytelling and great performance. Solid staging.
Don't see it if Could be 10-15 min trimmer.
See it if you like unvarnished family interaction, at times tense, at times loving, at times compassionate and at times dysfunctional.
Don't see it if you are bothered by breaking the 4th wall, one actor playing multiple roles, bare staging.
See it if Non-linear unraveling of desperation and shame threatens a wobbly family. Starts slow and funny, gets intense and distraught.
Don't see it if You can’t bear an egotistical father with a cracking facade, and his sincere daughter trying to make sense of it. Caustic narrator. Read more
See it if you like family dramas, esp. father & daughter stories; enjoy clever staging with minimal sets, like character studies, good acting
Don't see it if you need more literal staging, don't like direct audience address, need to know where story is going from the very start Read more
See it if you are interested in a family drama which builds as the play goes on; the acting is excellent w/each having a distinctly different persona.
Don't see it if you are expecting action throughout the play, which starts slowly and builds until an extremely disturbing and once unthinkable ending.
See it if Everyone was excellent and it's always great to see Frank Wood and Constance Shulman. I always see everything at Manhattan Theater Club.
Don't see it if You want something light. Read more
See it if Interesting take on a dysfunctional family. Great acting.
Don't see it if If you prefer a musical then skip this one.
See it if Do you want to see a masterful piece of theater. Sit back and watch it build the entire way to the perfect ending
Don't see it if You can’t enjoy a piece of theater that takes place on a very black box-ish type stage with very little props or gimmicks Read more
Critic Reviews (12)
“If there’s an element of myopia to Feldman’s otherwise searingly insightful play, it’s the cultural specificity of someone with the luxury of blowing in the breeze, trying out this or that, with a safety net to catch them when they fall.”
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“ ‘The Best We Could’ makes us hyperaware of its theatricality, but the premise isn't fantastical. It's painfully plausible. It takes emotions and experiences we as humans champion — connection, family, integrity — and flips them on their head.”
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"This concluding vignette is indeed the "tragedy" portion of the playwright's self-proclaimed "family tragedy," but being a road trip play, any theoretical spoilers are just Feldman emphasizing journey over destination. "
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“For a play to qualify as a tragedy, the people in it must, at a minimum, be interesting. That's the problem, with The Best We Could, a road trip drama that steers uncertainly toward a big revelation that destroys a family of three. The trouble is that playwright Emily Feldman is more adept at theatrical devices than in delineating characters whose dubious choices inflict pain on their loved ones. Who are these people? And why should one care about them?”
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“On its own terms it's an affecting little drama with a great central role, fortunately played here by a pretty great actor.”
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“The ubiquitous figure registers more as a cutely pretentious presence, tempting a slightly annoyed reviewer to say that with ‘The Best We Could,’ the playwright could have done better.”
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Hands down Emily Feldman’s "The Best We Could (a family tragedy)," at the Manhattan Theatre Club, wins the most ironic title of the year. Not one character does the best he or she could in this heart-twisting five-actor drama. The play details the long, slow descent of a family, cushioned only by an occasional jest and buoyed by the intensely moving acting by the ensemble with Frank Wood standing out in a superb demonstration of artistry.
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"'The Best we Could' shines with profound complexity, moment and powerful performances by an exceptional ensemble, well shepherded by Daniel Aukin. Kudos to the creative team who brought Aukin’s vision to life."
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