The Trees NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (87)
See it if You like an existential tale.
Don't see it if You want a literal story with meat and potatoes people and plot. Read more
See it if you're okay with non-linear, conceptual work that follows its own inner logic while making contemporary commentary on human ecosystems.
Don't see it if you insist when a foreign language is spoken (in this case, grandma's Polish), it be translated into English so you know what's being said. Read more
See it if You enjoy Samuel Beckett plays and absurdist theater done well.
Don't see it if You only want to see shows with a traditional structure and plot.
See it if you are looking for an unusual, entertaining play with an important theme - the need for community
Don't see it if you don't like non-realistic plays and need a linear plot
See it if you enjoy conceptual theatre that focuses less on plot and more on an idea.
Don't see it if you get angry if a story's message or purpose isn't spoon-fed directly into your mouth.
See it if You like bold, colorful costume design and complex storylines. You can quell your literal self and open up your imaginative self.
Don't see it if A large scale production with a linear story and straightforward script.
See it if You want to see terrific acting in a uniquely voiced show
Don't see it if You want a straightforward drama without any social or political references.
See it if like something different. a story of community.
Don't see it if want an actual story. this is essentially separate stories thrown together.
Critic Reviews (14)
"Borinsky invites guesses; the problem is that we might not care enough for any of the people or ideas onstage to bother hazarding them."
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“It's unclear what the author is chasing, maybe intentionally. Either way, it’s hard to see the forest through ‘The Trees.’”
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“If you’re not in the mood to let your mind dance along to its particular tune, you may find ‘The Trees’ exhausting, but there’s a challenging playfulness at work.”
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“When so many new plays preach against the obvious ills of our times, or peddle televisual reality, let’s cherish the dreamers and subverters, queering the form so our imagination can climb to the highest branches.”
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“The play has a great deal to say about the environment and our relationship to it, the way we treat and mistreat it...’The Trees’ is a beautifully bizarre piece of theater that is both deeply moving and extremely thought-provoking.”
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“Borinsky advocates for a kinder, gentler kind of playwriting, citing a Marxist critic who urges against using ‘dread as a dramaturgical instrument.’ (The playwright also says, ‘I'm not great at writing plot,’ which may be the understatement of the year.) Thus, the play offers no action but plenty of whimsies and musings about life that, untethered from anything, struggle to stand up on their own.”
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“Maybe ‘The Trees’ will be poplar; a good many seemed to find it more than oaky-doke. To which I say, lucky for yew. Me, I'm stumped.”
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“The truth is that I spent much of my time watching ‘The Trees’ trying to understand what playwright Borinsky was getting at...I even went so far as to think the play is arguing in favor of saving our disappearing forests.”
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