The Object Lesson NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (106)
See it if You want a simple, artful show that will stay with you. If you want to feel really connected to a room of people and the whole of your life.
Don't see it if You don't like audience interaction (it's done well, no sudden cold-calling), you want a traditional play.
See it if You like new and different evening - not quite the immersive theater of today, not quite a standard one man show - something in between
Don't see it if You are wedded to specific story line or plot Read more
See it if If you enjoy immersive theater and performance art.
Don't see it if Need a storyline or dislike hanging out in an attic. Read more
See it if you want to see a boring one man monologue in a visually interesting setting.
Don't see it if you want to save the taxi, the tickets and you have better plans to do. Read more
See it if Amazing set to explore and immerse yourself in. Some humorous moments within the show. Neat concept.
Don't see it if need a more concrete narrative. The show meanders thru stories using objects as lessons but execution lacks power and loses momentum fast.
See it if you like experimental theatre, digging through other people's things, and audience participation.
Don't see it if you are uncomfortable sitting in a backless chair.
See it if you love something out of the box, especially in the downtown theatre world
Don't see it if you prefer something with a concrete story and real chairs (my back hurt from sitting on a box and standing)
See it if non-traditional narrative, space, and experiences are your jam.
Don't see it if TRADITIONAL proscenium theater is your jam.
Critic Reviews (35)
"The environment installed by Steven Dufala at New York Theatre Workshop for performer Geoff Sobelle and director David Neumann’s astonishing and revelatory 'The Object Lesson' is one epic mausoleum...If you didn’t catch this startlingly original show when it premiered at BAM three years ago, treat yourself to this limited run...It's best seen without advance information...What exactly is the lesson here? We live, we die, we leave garbage behind. But to make art from trash: That’s real magic."
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"Some of the tale-telling involves playful effects, like recording monologue that becomes, in the replay, a dialogue leading to unexpected revelations. Too much of it goes nowhere; the show’s languors outweigh the sharper observations. But then there’s an ending that offers a kind of shocking payoff, as Sobelle executes a variation on the theme of clowns emerging from a tiny car...'Object Lesson' seems overblown even in this modest space. And yet I won’t soon forget those last 15 minutes."
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"At various times, the production goes slowly, stops dead and, occasionally, motors along. At best it’s a weird, one-of-a-kind work about life’s fruitful and fruitless connections and collections...That’s fertile territory, but the show...is disjointed and fails to make much of a point. It does remind that we have too much stuff and that we form deep-rooted attachments. Still, this 'Lesson' doesn’t have an ending. It needs one."
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"It's like spending 90 minutes with a self-involved friend as he digs through his storage unit...This is certainly a worthwhile story, but Sobelle consistently chooses the most uninteresting ways to tell it. His interactions with the audience feel more labored than charming...Execution often feels like an afterthought in Neumann's production...The only feeling 'The Object Lesson' is able to deliver is confusion chased by a sincere hope that it will end quickly."
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"In his best moments, Sobelle can hold his own with such New Vaudevillians as Bill Irwin and David Shiner...The overall theme remains utterly elusive: Sobelle appears to be saying something about the millions of objects that fill our lives–but what? Then again, even when 'The Object Lesson' wanders, Sobelle's presence casts a powerful spell...'The Object Lesson' is far from perfect, but, for most of us, it's a fine introduction to an artist who isn't quite like anyone you've ever seen."
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"Sobelle, an eminently likable everyman type, is the only constant, and though his character comes across as no less confused than you, he has an indomitable spirit that explains why he—and we—should never give up the things that make us most who we are...If the evening's finale were constructed off of this idea, it would be a glimmering little gem...Sadly, that's not where Sobelle goes...Sobelle wraps up 'Object Lesson' by making a big mess of the whole darn, otherwise brilliant, thing."
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"Illusionist/actor Geoff Sobelle's show is a combination of happening, art installation, and a meditation on the role objects have in our lives. Using audience participation, objects both hidden and seen, and magical illusion, Sobelle forces us to examine our relationship to objects and how they ultimately define us...For those willing to go with the flow and give themselves up to Sobelle's droll reflection, self-examination and visual theatrics, the evening is fascinating and rewarding."
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"Happily, Sobelle knows his way in and around the myriad of boxes, crates, and stuff that sparks his character's semi-introspective narrative-propelled journey...Getting a coherent drift of his character is not an easy task, but we are committed by our sheer curiosity about what may come next...Not exactly boring but certainly testy in its progression, his unhurried narrative gets some nice bumps with an unexpected discovery."
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