The Object Lesson
Closed 1h 40m
The Object Lesson
70

The Object Lesson NYC Reviews and Tickets

70%
(106 Ratings)
Positive
64%
Mixed
23%
Negative
13%
Members say
Clever, Quirky, Ambitious, Disappointing, Great staging

About the Show

Actor-illusionist Geoff Sobelle’s immersive theatrical installation turns New York Theatre Workshop into a storage facility of gargantuan proportion, where audiences are free to roam and poke through the clutter.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (106)

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52 Reviews | 22 Followers
75
Clever, Delightful, Funny, Great staging, Relevant

See it if you enjoy a variety of theater experiences. The story is perhaps the most universal of all.

Don't see it if you like your story to be linear or if you prefer to remain anonymous as an audience member. It's hard to stay out of the way in this show.

60 Reviews | 21 Followers
73
Great staging, Quirky, Refreshing, Ambitious, Immersive

See it if you enjoy the thrill of a bit of audience participation. The theatre experience is relatively immersive.

Don't see it if non-traditional theatre experiences make you uncomfortable. Audience members should be okay with sitting on the floor or being moved around.

408 Reviews | 86 Followers
72
Funny, Thought-provoking, Slow, Artistic

See it if you like contemporary art installations. This is similar to something you might find at the New Museum with an added layer of performance.

Don't see it if you want to see traditional theater with a clear narrative, you get frustrated by bad sight lines depending on where action is happening

65 Reviews | 10 Followers
72
Clever, Edgy, Great staging, Quirky

See it if You are intrigued by a theater populated by boxes and one actor who presents memories, interchanges, and a marvelously quirky mime of a life

Don't see it if Your are turned off by quirky shows without a narrative and that push you to interact with what's going on. And if you dislike non-stages.

447 Reviews | 81 Followers
70
Ambitious, Quirky

See it if non-traditional narrative, space, and experiences are your jam.

Don't see it if TRADITIONAL proscenium theater is your jam.

754 Reviews | 127 Followers
70
Ambitious, Cliched, Disappointing, Edgy, Indulgent

See it if you enjoy performance art different from anything you have seen before. The conversion of the theater is astounding. Come early to explore!

Don't see it if you expect a plot instead of unrelated segments. Like opening the boxes it is more anticipation then content. Possible themes are up to you.

77 Reviews | 12 Followers
70
Clever, Entertaining, Thought-provoking

See it if you enjoy experimental, immersive theatre. While the play is not perfect, it's really cool to watch.

Don't see it if You need a solid storyline - this didn't really have that - just a bunch of props and metaphors.

97 Reviews | 16 Followers
70
Clever, Gimmicky, Funny, Self-indulgent

See it if you like unconventional shows with non-linear narrative, where you need to be active and move around

Don't see it if you like to sit in a theatre...

Critic Reviews (35)

The Modernist Beat
March 5th, 2017

"More a meditation on the place of things in our lives rather than a piece with a clear linear narrative arc. Which is fine. Different can be good...His training at École Jacques Lecoq in Paris was very much on display, and it served the performer and his construct well...The ending, however, was something of a let down. The final vignette really did not provide a satisfying coda...That point of criticism aside, 'The Object Lesson' is very much a worthwhile evening of theatre."
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The New York Times
November 6th, 2014
For a previous production

"Charming and sobering performance piece...Directed by Neumann, with the spectacular scenic installation designed by Dufala, this cunning show finds universal common ground in one man’s field of detritus. It’s a ruefully, comically sentimental piece that plucks a fleeting connective poetry in the seeming randomness of what we hoard...Scenes sometimes veer into preciousness. But whimsical detours are forgivable...In a bravura finale, Sobelle unpacks a whole cradle-to-grave lifetime."
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Los Angeles Times
September 13th, 2015
For a previous production

"Has its share of memorable moments, to be sure...'The Object Lesson' has the rhythm of an impromptu show-and-tell, with Sobelle hemming and hawing from one section to the next, even though he's no doubt following a script...The lack of a narrative flow is a liability. There are pockets when nothing much seems to be happening but Sobelle aimlessly scurrying...It's only in the final section that 'The Object Lesson' attains a density of surreal meaning."
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BroadwayWorld
May 20th, 2016
For a previous production

"Storytelling that captivates, challenges, entertains, and maybe even changes you...One of the most creative, and pure, works of storytelling you are likely to see in a theater...Some of the vignettes are more successful than others, but I suspect that evaluation will differ with each audience member...I doubt there's anyone who will not marvel at the final twenty minutes; it's truly a wondrous display of art and magic, filled with poignant wisdom."
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Exeunt Magazine
November 9th, 2014
For a previous production

"'The Object Lesson' is instantly recognizable as another inspiring product of the physical theater of the French pedagogue Jacques Lecoq, with whom Sobelle trained, and whose elementals reside in the keen observation of the actor’s environment...Sobelle dexterously assembles a charmingly quick-witted and inventive tale about a life appreciated through its debris."
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S
October 15th, 2015
For a previous production

"A discursive, often very funny journey through what may be one man’s life or the general human condition, using every part of the stage...It’s an odd conglomeration of the brilliant and the not-quite. Much of Sobelle’s work is astonishing, his insights acutely funny, his timing impeccable and his physical execution admirable. Some of the piece seems unfocused, though, and self-indulgently extended...He combines comedy, tragedy and the absurd to masterfully memorable effect."
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S
January 8th, 2016
For a previous production

"Once immersed, you don't realize how thoroughly you are being affected until it's too late. Its initial impact is considerable...That is a charming coup de theatre in itself, but there is more to come. Sobelle motions us to gather round for his finale, an enthralling act of stage magic in which an entire life is unpacked before our astonished eyes...We're left to rummage again, not in the boxes this time, but among our own thoughts and emotions."
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DC Theatre Scene
May 20th, 2016
For a previous production

"A bit of Sobelle’s pacing goes a long way and long stretches of the narrative are given over to some fairly repetitive shuffling about...Some will enjoy the otherworldly experience of basking in the leisurely pace; others may find themselves glancing at the time...Regardless, Sobelle’s antics help our laughs and sympathy to come easily. Even in the long stretches of silence, Sobelle conjures a magician-like ability to convey nuanced emotions through sheer physicality."
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