The Prisoner

See it if you’d like to see a primal fable, as complex as all humanity, simply, affectingly enacted.

Don't see it if you know from experience that extremely simple theatrical means fail to engage you.

Also By simple means director Peter Brook evokes the most complex feelings in his latest collaborative theater piece, “The Prisoner.” In spring 1968, a high school friend played for me the LP of the Brook-directed “Marat/Sade.” It was formative for me. A few years later at CalArts I had the pleasure of working with Brook’s designer, Sally Jacobs, & seeing their justly famous trapeze “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Since coming to NYC in 1978, I’ve seen everything he & his companies have brought here. His last few productions left me cold, wondering if he’d ever again direct something that exhilarated me like earlier work had. “The Prisoner,” savaged by English critics this past summer, touched me deeply. (Has it changed that much?) My descriptive words say all I care to share about an experience that, for me, felt packed with hard-earned, age-old wisdom, enormously generous, salutary for our battering times. That the elderly Brook was in attendance the night I saw it was a special treat.... Read more Read less

See it if this play was too much in its head

Don't see it if so boring and contrived

See it if You love the innovative spirit of Peter Brook, whose fingerprints are all over this. Great acting with precise physical work from the cast.

Don't see it if You need a complicated nuanced story: The direction and acting are both terrific, but if you also need great acting, well, the story is thin

See it if If you admire Peter Brook and appreciate his aesthetic, love metaphor and don't mind periods of static staging or anodyne philosophy.

Don't see it if You hate Peter Brook, like realistic sets and traditional dramatic structure and plays that involve explicit characters and conflict.

See it if If you love peter brook and want to see any play he directs.

Don't see it if You dont like very slow moving, unconventional theatre focused on a single idea.

See it if Peter Brook story-telling at its most minimal and fable-like. Meditative and a calm unfolding. Solid cast and thoughtful story.

Don't see it if No magic, no pulse. Ideas and suggestions but no passion. Not hypnotic but sleep inducing. Not recommended.

See it if Because late work can surprise or reveal even if not conquer your heart or head -Brook and the cast have earned it.

Don't see it if You need word and especially action with a clear purpose.

See it if You like theater that challenges your intellect, that you have to chew on for a few days after

Don't see it if You want to be entertained, you don't want to pay very close attention for 75 minutes, you want the points to be immediately obvious

See it if you enjoy different type of theater, and f you are a fan of Peter Brook's direction. Based on an actual event. I found it mesmerizing.

Don't see it if you like big productions.

Also Heard many people in the mezzanine complaining that they couldn't hear well. I had no trouble , but if you do make sure to get amplifiers form the theater.... Read more Read less

See it if you're looking for a different off-broadway play

Don't see it if you're looking for a traditional performance

See it if You want to have seen something directed and creator by Peter Brook.

Don't see it if You understand the difference between love and child abuse.

Also Look. I love Peter Brook, I do.

However, this show is gross. Like super gross.

I really really need to not see a show in which a major plot point is the "love" of a father and daughter that ends in sex. Spoiler, that's not love, that's abuse. And to frame it as love is to ignore the actual abuse.

And I can't get past that, because nothing that happened on that stage was worth getting past that. They never actually dealt with it in any real way.

In fact, her abuse is a literal plot point in her brother's story. Which again, was never dealt with.

There are better ways to make the metaphor they were trying to make than to have hinged it on child abuse, and then tried to ignore that it was abuse.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a very simple story about justice and punishment

Don't see it if You expect much of anything in the way of staging. Very simplistic dialogue

See it if You want heavy drama and deep thought

Don't see it if You want to be entertained

See it if you appreciate theatre that immerses you into it's environment and world

Don't see it if you want a show that engages you, it's a very slow show with little dialogue

See it if You enjoy non-traditional and diverse casts who take up roles that are not stereotyped or cliched.

Don't see it if If you want anything like a cohesive narrative. Some elements of the plot are gratuitous and P. Brooks can't write convincing, 3D women.

See it if I honestly can’t think of a reason. The acting is decent but there is no material to speak of. Staging is decent but not a masterpiece

Don't see it if You are a discerning theatergoer. It tries to overwhelm you with its self importance to distract you from its utter lack of...well..anything

Also The emperor has no clothes.

There is nothing here. No plot, no message, no depth. This play is racially and morally reductive while insulting our intelligence enough to pretend it has depth... Read more Read less

See it if stagecraft holds more importance than plot. Directorially, Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne conjure up magic on this fairly bare stage.

Don't see it if you simply refuse to tolerate a plot in which incest between a father and daughter is presented as a love defying cultural norms. WTF!

See it if You appreciate a masterful play presented as a thought provoking allegory. Great acting and unusual staging adds meaning to presentation.

Don't see it if You don’t appreciate serious and uncomfortable thought provoking issues.

Also Well worth the trip to Brooklyn. A must see and unusual experience that will dwell on your mind for days. Haunting and exhilarating.... Read more Read less