LaBute New Theater Festival 2019 NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (108)
See it if These are three brief plays all done in less than two hours. If your attention span is short, this is for you.
Don't see it if Plays that challenge political correctness, or rather slap it in the face, are offensive to you. Read more
See it if Three short gut punches thrown by one of today's best. Nice cozy shoe box theater.
Don't see it if Hate small casts and a short running time. Read more
See it if You enjoy 3 short plays about relevant thought provoking topics which aren’t connected to each other.
Don't see it if You prefer an evening with a single threaded play and characters or you prefer musicals.
See it if I don't care for the rambling patter of LaBute's monologues. They attempt to challenge and make you think but are cliched and shallow and
Don't see it if don't go far enough. They just meander along the border of dangerous. Acting was decent, but not worth sitting through this mush.
See it if you like short pieces that make you think.My favorite was Fourth Reich.Very timely.LaBute rarely lets me down.He did not disappoint!
Don't see it if you want a Mamet play or a light and fluffy musical.These 3 shows plays have a lot to say and they say it well.
See it if You want to see a masterful playwright's talents on display in three short, powerful plays. LaBute's dialogue is mind-blowingly good, as
Don't see it if always, and he continues to provoke us--dare us--to see the darker side of human beings on earth. The atmosphere in the audience was Read more
See it if You want to see three short one act plays. Two of them are solo shows
Don't see it if You are expecting the normal brilliance that you used to get from Neil Labute Read more
See it if You like strong writing, performances, and one act plays. The second one was a highlight.
Don't see it if You don't like long monologues or are easily offended by discussions that involve the Holocaust, race, and shootings. Read more
Critic Reviews (19)
"'Great Negro Works of Art' is an ur-LaButian text, starting with a title that should inspire an anticipatory wince, but vague enough to make it difficult to pinpoint the issue...Mr. LaBute’s writing is as skillful as ever, but Tom and Jerri’s date spins into a predictable downward spiral...Mr. LaBute may be mellower, but that does not make him any more uplifting."
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"'The Fourth Reich': Under John Pierson's direction, White's portrayal is quite warm and thoughtful, even flashing a bit of stand-up comedy showmanship on occasion...The program's third entry, 'Unlikely Japan,' is directed by LaBute and is decidedly more low-key than its predecessors...What connects the three pieces is how they all deal with the subjectivity of what we regard to be the truth, stemming from individual points of view."
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“Ninety minutes of pure LaBute, a format that may not be in the playwright's best interest...In each of the plays featured here, one feels two steps ahead, fully aware of where the action is headed and impatient over the time it takes to get there...The best piece, ‘Unlikely Japan’...LaBute's admittedly strong direction -- explores the multiple layers of guilt and denial at the character's core, making Katie the most compelling character of the evening...This is a flat collection."
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"Offers neither fodder for the salacious nor the gut punch and unlikely poignance of his best work, it’s a timely affirmation that LaBute remains among our most vital and necessary observers of messy modern life. That timeliness extends to the subject matter of the new plays...'Unlikely Japan,' another one-character piece, ends the collection on a high note, reminding us that LaBute’s female characters can be as sharply drawn and as vexing as his guys."
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"Suggests that LaBute wants to remind ultra-sensitive audiences that his plays do not represent his views, but rather illuminate the dark truths lurking within the dubious characters he fashions...Curiously enough, one can’t help but notice that much as the playwright strives to present what he sees as the truth within his characters, the two women he creates here are not as self-aware as the men, even though one of these guys advocates for Hitler."
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“An exhilarating trio of short plays by noted cultural provocateur Neil LaBute...Each is a well-crafted topical theatrical snapshot smoothly dramatizing contemporary United States themes. LaBute’s distinctive dark humor and sharp insights into the human condition are realized by his bitingly precise dialogue. Most crucially he has created enthralling showcases for actors to dazzle in...Three knockouts make for a thrilling event.”
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“All three plays...are provocative and deal with hot topics...They are all calculated to sting, surprise and stir up the kind of feelings you might otherwise not care to acknowledge...‘Great Negro Works of Art’ is excellent...'The Fourth Reich' is under the playwright's direction. It's a chiller that may make your skin crawl...'Unlikely Japan:' It's the what-if kind of story that is given some heft by the compelling way that Crovatin takes us back to the teen romance."
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"All three offerings are by LaBute himself, and therefore, the enterprise feels a bit less exciting. It’s not uncommon for a famous writer to offer a bill of great short plays that he’s amassed over the years, but these three new plays seem decidedly underdeveloped...I found myself impatient attending three plays that would have been better served by a table read. Even famous writers need to bother with the rigors of fully developing their work."
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