The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window NYC Reviews and Tickets

81%

(189 Ratings)

Positive

88%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Absorbing, Great acting, Ambitious, Clever, Entertaining

About the Show

Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan star in the first revival of Lorraine Hansberry's final play.

Oscar Isaac (Scenes from a Marriage, Hamlet, Dune, Star Wars) and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, House of Cards, Othello) star in Lorraine Hansberry’s (A Raisin in the Sun) grand drama about identity, ideals, and romance. Directed by Anne Kauffman, this production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music marks the first major New York revival since the play's original Broadway run.

Hansberry's play is set in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1960s, painting a razor-sharp portrait of a diverse group of friends whose progressive dreams don't yet match their real world. In the middle of it all are Sidney and Iris Brustein, fighting to see if their marriage—with all its crackling wit, passion, and harsh barbs—can survive Sidney’s ideals.

Show-Score Member Reviews (189)

100

Resonant, Profound, Must see, Intelligent, Exquisite

See it if You want to see essential theater. This is a must for any real theater lover. Don't believe the critics. Go.

Don't see it if You want a light flashy piece of fluff with well made plotting.

Classy, Smart, Very new york, Ambitious, Great acting

See it if You want to soak up some lesser known Hansberry delivered by actors (STARS) at the top of their game.

Don't see it if You have a short attention span - it’s 3+ hours

Absorbing, Great acting, Great staging, Great writing, Riveting

See it if you want to see an authentically-realized capsule of a moment and place in time

Don't see it if you can't invest the time needed or want to see something more aligned with contemporary mores and issues Read more

Thought-provoking, Relevant, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if An amazing show, from start to finish. Could have been written today; a shame it hasn't been revived sooner. Acting is SUPERB!

Don't see it if You like only fluffy comedies or light dramas, and not shows that delve deeply into intellectual ideals and practices.

Riveting (especially the first 3/4ths), Ambitious and brave for the era, Great (sometimes uneven) acting, Thought-provoking, Complicated and messy in a good way

See it if piqued by an elevated whirlwind of a Lorraine Hansberry play that offers a glimpse of what she could have penned if she’d not died so young.

Don't see it if uncomfortable with: prostitution, drug addiction, bossism, racism, antisemitism, interracial relationships, extramarital affairs, misogyny. Read more

Must see, Relevant, Great writing, Great acting, Clever

See it if An all-star incredible production in all aspects.Set in the West Village in the '60s, this is the story of Sidney,a Bohemian intellectual,*

Don't see it if Some dialogues may sound 2celebral&demand close attn but, as a reviewer pointed out, "Finally a play that makes us think"&raises our sights. Read more

Intelligent, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if A delicious & complicated Lorraine Hansberry play touching on America’s societal sins & struggles. Provocative & well written script. Bravo!

Don't see it if This was a three hour play which many might have difficulties sitting through. If you prefer a lighter play, then skip this one.

Entertaining, Intelligent, Must see, Great writing, Great acting

See it if you want to see a classic show done very well, or are a Star Wars or Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fan - Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan are superb

Don't see it if you prefer musicals/comedies or don’t like period plays. Story is unfocused but entertaining and the acting makes up for any deficiencies Read more

Critic Reviews (16)

“Its hailstorm of ideas remains stunning — and aptly painful if, as a proud progressive, you’re struck in the face by the ice of its wit. But as human drama goes, and despite fine performances by Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, it’s hard to discern a satisfying emotional shape in all the weather. It’s blurry.”
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“Hansberry’s play has plenty of sweep – maybe too much. It takes on racism, anti-Semitism, political corruption, suicide, homosexuality, and social activism. Performances are all over the map.”
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“The play is harsh, but as it pares its hero down, it reveals something hopeful...Hansberry has this hope that, from a gesture, a streak of actual commitment might be revealed in Sidney like a vein of gold.”
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“What Hansberry sensitively captures, through most of the characters, is that troubling period in many people’s lives when the ideals of youth begin to seem chimerical, and getting a firm foothold on more practical kinds of success suddenly seems alluring.”
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“It’s a funnier, rangier and in some ways more ambitious play that gives its central character attributes both magnetic and off-putting.”
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“Things will only get worse if people don't stand together and fight for a better world...’The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window’ remains a powerful call to embrace that fight. This imaginatively-staged, passionately-acted production does justice to her political vision.”
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“...it unfortunately did not come together into a coherent, critical-minded play but rather a plodding diatribe full of one-dimensional characters and melodramatic plot twists.”
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“...Kauffman's thrilling staging — led by the terrific Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan — brings Hansberry's words to life with the urgency of something written yesterday. Sure, it's a little hirsute but the whole thing is just so alive that it's nothing short of dazzling.”
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Trailer

Creative team