"Shanley’s comedy...offers a certain amount of laugh opportunity, not from great writing, but as a vehicle for a good cast who can mine the most out of lines and situations even when the plot becomes rather limp...Shanley’s writing is only intermittently funny along the way, but his cast members consistently come to the rescue as they make the most of everything they are given and are an entertaining lot...Overall this is only a somewhat diverting time in the theater."
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“An old-fashioned Neil Simon-style romantic farce...Shanley wrote and directed, making changes to the second and fourth scenes up to the very last minute during previews, and it unfortunately shows; those scenes are more chaotic and unformed than the fabulous first and third scenes, in which the characters are well developed, the actors get to strut their stuff, and the plot thickens in wonderfully acerbic ways."
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"A comedy regarding inexplicable sexual desire, the play is an underdone mélange of farce, Greek mythological references, insult humor, and extrasensory connections. The dramaturgy here is surprisingly desultory...Shanley manages to massage this on-paper mishmash with capable actors and the smartest production values MTC can buy, and the result is one hundred minutes of agreeable, albeit fitful, amusement.”
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"It's an awfully disappointing show...Sexual hijinks are supposed to ensue but what we get are lame jokes that lean heavily on the low humor of ethnic and gender stereotyping, lots of yelling and a few Trump references thrown in for good, or not so good, measure...Even a cast that includes such comic heavyweights as Scott, Alexander and the redoubtable Testa as Barry's overbearing and overprotective mother can't get this one off the ground."
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"A delightful new comedy...If this sounds like a lot. It is. And it all works. This is a play that feels like a play—the kind that writers don’t really write anymore...It’s John Patrick Shanley’s version of a Neil Simon relationship comedy; a silly romp with likable, quick-witted characters who have no real problems but for the ones they create for themselves, and each other, as drinks are poured and doors slammed."
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"Gather a cast of first-class actors, add some laughs, some romance and chances are, you have a pretty good play. Not a great play, not flawless, not wall-to-wall hilarious, but enough to send out the audience with a smile...The cast is enthusiastic, the production values are stellar and there are more than a few laughs but as for the book, we have come to expect something more solid from John Patrick Shanley."
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"Part farce, part rom-com, the occasionally funny but ultimately trivial play...doesn’t really go anywhere that’s not completely predictable. Unless you count the jarring intrusion of the political. Atalanta is none too fond of our sitting president, demanding to know who voted for him and describing him in nasty, unflattering terms. Did Shanley really need to go there?"
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"'The Portuguese Kid' doesn’t soar, but the playwright’s trademark wit and a crackerjack cast at least get it off the ground...There are uproarious laughs and sharp characterizations, briskly directed by Shanley, but the predictable plot runs out of steam before the 90 minute running time...Despite the familiarity of the premise, 'Kid' is an enjoyable, if forgettable comedy."
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