The New Morality NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (24)
See it if you have a thing for ladies with Bernadette Peters hair, you dig good production design and period costumes, you like a battle of the sexes
Don't see it if You need a lot of action, you hate British accents and slightly pretentious folks, you have bad childhood memories of time spent on lakes
See it if you want to see a strong feminist play of which the themes are still relevant.
Don't see it if You don't like the slow burn of a plot or multiple monologues.
See it if you like period dialogue, sets, and costumes. It's extremely dialogue heavy with comedic moments. 3 short acts with 2 10 min intermissions.
Don't see it if you can't understand British accents. you want something modern. you want to be challenged, you want to think.
See it if you enjoy museum pieces. Acting is uneven with Ned Noyes a comic stand out. Other performances lack his heart and specificity of character.
Don't see it if the argument of the play is hard to follow I'm afraid.
See it if Like comedies about social mores
Don't see it if Dislike the above
See it if You want to see a really fun play with great writing, acting, and set design and want to spend time on a house boat with some cheeky people!
Don't see it if You prefer musicals and contemporary stories/settings.
See it if you enjoy relationship topics, appreciate great acting, and want to see something that makes you think.
Don't see it if you don't like long, preachy monologues and prefer more contemporary theater.
See it if you want to see the one of the funniest early 20th century, Hugh Grant-esque drunken rants of all time + great production values & acting.
Don't see it if you can't get into the time period. The scandal of calling your neighbor a bad name doesn't really hold the same weight in 2015.
Critic Reviews (26)
"While the play does have a Shavian flavor, even an inveterate restorer of rarely seen or under-appreciated plays like Bank hasn't been able to give this essentially slight play more than a very light touch of Shaw's social depth. But not to worry. True to its name, the Mint's productions are always first-rate and 'The New Morality' is no exception."
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"The cast effectively paints a nuanced portrait of the times. Meaney expressively adds a wry spark behind Betty’s languor. As Ivor Jones, Michael Frederic is the portrait of an behind-the-times Edwardian Colonel. As Muriel’s clueless but sensitive husband, Ned Noyes rules the strong Act III. Directed by Jonathan Bank, the play runs a leisurely course in three acts. Steven Kemp designed a well-detailed feminine bedroom."
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"Director Jonathan Banks and his cast have likely done all the right things to embody the playwright’s vision of the characters. However, those characters come off as a fairly unpleasant lot. Meaney’s Betty takes a smug delight in her own outrageousness, seldom showing concern that the stakes for her in the case are quite high. Frederic’s Ivor often seems a bundle of slow burns. You almost expect to see clouds of steam blast out of his ears."
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"Unearthed by the indispensable Mint Theater, whose mission is to “excavate buried theatrical treasures, the play is being given the Mint’s usual quality production, with a pleasing set and costumes, and a capable seven-member cast... Still, for all the skill on display under the direction of Jonathan Bank, the Mint persuaded me only that 'The New Morality' is a rediscovered historical and anthropological treasure, not a theatrical one."
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"Chapin’s play is an Edwardian curiosity, something like a shaved-down Shavian comedy of aphorisms and ideas, their fragility becoming increasingly apparent over the course of three acts (with two intermissions)...The Mint’s discoveries are often worth resuscitating; despite its occasional pleasantries and historical interest, however, they should have let this sleeping play lie...Only a first-rate company could make this frothy material work, and the Mint’s, while competent, falls short."
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"Truth to tell, were it not that the cast performs so stylishly, 'The New Morality' through the first two acts would seem terribly slight. But as Bank guides them and as Carisa Kelly dresses them, they prove that while gossamer is a fragile material, it can also be alluring."
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"Under the direction of the company’s smart and sharply focused producing artistic director Jonathan Bank, the cast is uniformly strong, with Mr. Noyes giving a stellar performance as the fumbling yet ultimately insightful Teddy. With 'The New Morality,' the Mint once again shows just what you can do when you scour that old 'dramaturgical dustbin.'"
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"The revival of Harold Chapin’s 1911 play 'The New Morality' at The Mint Theater is a gem of a comedy. Delightful with every aspect, it is a shame the writer died at 29. Along the lines of a Noel Coward or Bernard Shaw, the dialogue is witty and fresh, the material interesting and the acting superb...I look forward to more of the Mint’s stellar performances."
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