The Harvest NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (101)
See it if you enjoy great acted, intelligent, thought provoking looks at topical issues. Religion is a sort of umbrella topic here but it's MUCH more!
Don't see it if you're looking for fluff. This ain't it. It's a great piece of work that I'm going to be thinking about for a long long time!
See it if you like works with strong characters. The premise was solid, but the issues are repeated often, and the end felt like an unearned trick.
Don't see it if you are uncomfortable with religious fervor. The acting and staging are effective, but the play needs trimming.
See it if you're a Sam Hunter fan & like his probing looks at quirky, interesting characters stuck in Idaho acted by some fine young actors
Don't see it if you don't like stories involving Christian evangelization, characters mixed up about their feelings & fears, coming of age tales
See it if you want to see Samuel D Hunter's expert, hyper-realistic dialogue & sharply-shaped characters fully realized by uniformly excellent actors.
Don't see it if you don't want to spend 1 hr 45 min watching Six Characters in Search of an Author... who could guide them to a meaningful end.
See it if Hunter's humanistic writing still excites; exceptional characterizations of Idaho youth searching for identity through misssionary work
Don't see it if Numerous plot lines hamper sympathetic feel for faith based youth; excellent acting & top-notch direction save Hunter's schematic plotting
See it if You're a fan of well-acted, interesting new plays by younger playwrights that cover topical issues. Or if you're a fan of Sam Hunter's work.
Don't see it if You don't like plays about religion that may challenge (or possibly mock) your faith -- in this case, Evangelical Christianity.
See it if You want to see these excellent actors. The play was slow at times but all the actors were wonderful and were compelling to watch.
Don't see it if You prefer a play with more laughs. This play is quite serious and at times stressful to watch.
See it if you want to see the latest work from one of our very best young playwrights. He explores issues of faith and doubt.
Don't see it if you become easily depressed and upset at seeing choices young people made. Also, if you don't want to see religion explored on stage.
Critic Reviews (11)
"The dialogue is rich in fine emotional nuance, and the direction, by Davis McCallum, is unfussy and focused...All the relationships in the play are drawn with care...Mr. Hunter, admirably, does not condescend to his characters for their faith...But there remains that problem of Mr. Hunter’s unwillingness to specify—or his characters’ cluelessness about—just whom they will be trying to convert...The primary plot strand ...didn’t exactly have me gnawing my fingernails in suspense."
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"Like much of Hunter's work, 'The Harvest' takes place in a jammed intersection of religion, family, sexuality and poverty, which the playwright maps out in evocative detail...Masterfully directed by Davis McCallum, the excellent cast—which includes Scott Jaeck and a wittily smarmy Zoë Winters—helps get us inside the complex worlds of these characters’ devotions, as they grasp in the fearful dark for revelation."
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"In 'The Harvest' Hunter has engaged, through this love, his anger, to thrillingly contrapuntal effect...There is a bit of awkwardly integrated exposition here and there, and the ending, though very powerful, requires perhaps too many turns of the screw for its own good. But it is passionate and funny and daring and, under Davis McCallum’s perfectly judged direction, marvelously theatrical in a way that most serious plays about faith are not."
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"The play is slow-going and lugubrious, lacking sufficient dramatic tension to fully command attention. When the speaking in tongues is more compelling than the dialogue, it's a problem...Director Davis McCallum's muted, hyper-realistic production never fully comes to life. It's tedious for long stretches, and although several of the performances are outstanding, much of the dialogue is inaudible...'The Harvest' doesn't bear much dramatic fruit."
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"With astutely unifying direction from McCallum, Hunter and the performers do an uncommonly good job of fleshing out all of the supporting roles...But the play really belongs to Kendall, a young actor of astonishing intensity and truthfulness...While a very late-in-the-game twist doesn't necessarily suit the piece as a whole, it is grounded enough in the uncommon reality that Hunter and McCallum create that it is easily forgivable."
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"McCallum's direction is emotionally sincere, and his staging the most that could be expected...There are some compelling performances, too...The prevailing problem with 'The Harvest,' though, is the same as with so much of Hunter's work...He falls back on the lazy shorthand of demonizing one side to make his points with a minimum of opposition...All it does is reduce a potentially worthwhile exploration of a key experience, or a critique of its efficacy, to mere babble."
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"Although scenes tend to feel drawn out and a bit unfocused, the play, directed by Davis McCallum, is compelling and engaging for the most part...We can guess that the inspirational stories we hear are not so straightforward...So what is Hunter trying to tell us? I’ll let you decide, but I can’t say that I left the theatre content or hopeful. More like a bit sick to my stomach. But I’m guessing that is the desired effect Hunter is going for.
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"Hunter’s command of his style seems slightly less complete than in other plays – the focus is broader, the tone more varying, which are not at all bad things, though sometimes there’s a tendency to cap a scene too neatly in an effort to move on to the next strand of plot. But he offers rich and varied roles for his actors...This evangelizing drama may not end well for its characters (Hunter’s plays rarely do), but it is good news for its audience."
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