The Penitent NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (113)
See it if You like Mamet's pace and style. Also, if you like things that are not always as they seem.
Don't see it if You want broad laughs, and don't want to think.
See it if Mamet is your guy; you're interested in the good, bad and ugly in a tale about morality and ethics. Short second act, better than the first.
Don't see it if You do not like stilted scripts and robotic acting and direction. The play had some good moments, if only they lasted longer. Read more
See it if You are a fan of David Mamet. It's not his best, but the twist at the end makes you think.
Don't see it if You are bothered by some weak acting (the wife).
See it if You like a small theater, psychological court room family dramas
Don't see it if If you love David Mamet (like I do) you'll be disappointed as this is NOT typical of his work. If you hate poor acting and directing.
See it if you're a fan of David Mamet and his brand of writing. It's all about the last 10 minutes so don't leave at intermission.
Don't see it if you are impatient and wonder what these characters are up to.
See it if Mamet displays brilliant ability 2 pick apart psychology & legal professions/press; features intense 1-on-1 adversarial scenes
Don't see it if tho Mamet has great ideas, difficulty dramatizing them; cast not capture mesmerizing mametian cadences; shocking ending undercuts play
See it if you're a fan of David Mamet.
Don't see it if you're looking for something light and fun.
See it if my 80 and partner's 50.. It attacks the press (who attack Mamet) Doctors, Lawyers, Religion and even women Jordan Lage is great
Don't see it if The acting by Rebecca P. is a puzzlement. The set is minimal if anything. It ran 80 minutes and there was no need for the intermission
Critic Reviews (34)
“Mamet and director Neil Pepe do succeed in conjuring a bleak atmosphere where principle, however misplaced, falls prey to the jaws of bureaucracy. There are also flashes of the playwright’s old talent for brutal verbal jousting...But, for the most part, the actors fail to breathe any real life into their staccato exchanges while the exposition is at once clunky and confusing. The underlying theme of reactionary victimhood also sits uneasily with recent political developments.”
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"Mamet’s play is often a jumble of non-cohesive ideas, but it still holds together better than recent pieces such as 'The Anarchist' and 'China Doll.' Viewed as an indictment of journalism or the law—take your pick—'The Penitent' is timely and exciting and, in the best of ways, awfully depressing...Overall, my response here was warm-ish. Some themes pop up like a muddled game of socioreligious whack-a-mole, but the play itself entertains and boasts a variety of interesting performances."
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“Mamet’s misanthropic leanings can make crackling good drama…Here, however, the effect is blunted, as the characters seem to be inhabiting a vacuum…As the arguments get chewed over and over, things begin to seem pretty repetitious...On the plus side, Mamet’s dialogue impresses with command of language and the ability to make clear his character’s points of view...And the actors, for the most part, deliver the dialogue with the kind of conviction that makes you keep listening. "
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"But to me, at least, [the play] also feels like the whining of a put-upon old man; it is unfortunate that Charles' complaints about newspapers match up so neatly with Trumpist anti-intellectualism, but I don't think it is entirely accidental, either."
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"'The Penitent' reminds us of Mamet's tremendous gifts for rapid-fire dialogue and political provocation. Yet despite an intriguing first act, which finds Mamet in furious attack mode, railing against the media and liberal political correctness, 'The Penitent' ultimately feels like a rough draft rushed into production...There are interesting ideas and maybe even a coherent play buried here, and the cast is solid, but Mamet should probably take 'The Penitent' back to the drawing board."
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"Mamet has penned a moral and ethical dilemma that really has no answer but leaves lots of questions. It's done in an ingenious style of giving you only some of the facts, making you guess at others and revealing a key element right at the end, which only serves to make you reflect back upon the entire play...Bauer held court in most every scene...Pidgeon was a bit stilted and awkward...A gripping and thought-provoking drama."
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"This is one of Mamet's most thought-provoking plays, and the dialogue is especially rich...Capturing the rhythms of Mamet’s clipped overlapping lines of dialogue with utmost finesse, his long time collaborator, director Neil Pepe is at the top of his game. Building complex relationships, peeling away at triangulation and betrayal with a formidable eye to revealing the truth...The acting is uniformly excellent. Bauer brings a soulful thoughtfulness to his role."
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"This new work is a well crafted exploration of ethics, responsibility and religious salvation...Mamet has intentionally not drawn full, three-dimensional characters. The play is less about the personal lives and relationships of the three main characters, but more a sort of sequence of debates, increasing in complexity as legal pressures mount...Neil Pepe’s direction and the work of the designers...keeps the audience in a state of objectivity–we are involved with the ideas."
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