"The writing is charming and finely observed, with only a tinge of must. The direction by Jonathan Bank, is appealing and apposite. The acting is adept...But ultimately the play isn’t especially high-proof, too tidy and conventional. The arguments about men and women and marriage seem intended to surprise; they don’t."
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"Like a flute of champagne left out in the sun, the vintage play 'The New Morality' (1911) starts off scintillating but ultimately falls flat...Even if the play itself has outlived its moment, the actors—including a superfluous solicitor and the requisite servants—are all excellent and very believably cast, as if plucked from an early 20th-century edition of 'The Tatler'...There are more tiresome places to spend a sultry day on the water."
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"Jonathan Bank directs the fine cast with the right balance of thoughtfulness and silliness. Meaney is wonderful in the central role, showing consummate humor, feeling, and intelligence. But, in a surprising twist, the playwright puts his theme in the mouth of a drunken upper-class twit, and Ned Noyes nails the big scene."
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"'The New Morality' is honored with a lavishly crafted production...But the play itself leaves much to be desired...The wafer-thin 'New Morality' can hardly compare with the alternately funny and thought-provoking work of other playwrights from the time, like George Bernard Shaw. Perhaps that explains why it played for less than a month upon its first New York outing, and has remained on the shelves since."
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"A splendid and gracefully directed production is fully of subtle wit and progressive rumblings to go with its remarkably simple, yet for its time quite intriguing, plot...While the premise may not seem enough to fill out an evening, Chapin writes with extreme economy. The first act takes up hardly a half-hour and the next two are barely longer."
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"The program notes for 'The New Morality' call it a 'tempest-in-a-teapot' comedy. I'm afraid that the tempest is barely a squall and the tea is exceptionally weak...Under Jonathan Bank's suave direction, 'The New Morality' has all the polish we've come to expect from Mint productions...But surely the Mint will soon find some light comedies with something more substantial to say."
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"Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing any production of the Mint Theater Company will not be surprised to hear that artistic director Jonathan Bank and his colleagues have done very, very right by 'The New Morality'...Jonathan Bank’s direction is well-nigh pitch perfect, though I’ll admit I wasn’t sure about that at first...That said, if the production is flawed in any respect, it’s a miscalculation on the part of lighting."
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"While Jonathan Bank’s production is elegant and polished, this diverting play unfortunately seems lightweight and thin today...The Mint Theater continues to present elegant and sophisticated revivals of forgotten plays from the turn of the last century. Jonathan Bank’s production of 'The New Morality' is no exception. While the comedy is certainly diverting, this does not seem to be a lost treasure like many of the plays that the Mint has uncovered."
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