The Underlying Chris NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (203)
See it if Fascinating exploration of innate vs. acquired identity. Vignettes of "Chris" at different life stages. Warm, amusing & intellectual.
Don't see it if You would be confused by 10 actors of various ages/races/genders playing Chris. You prefer intensity & emotion to inward reflection.
See it if u want to learn the meaning of life in a play about universality & identity as told thru birth-to-death vignettes from the ever-astute Eno.
Don't see it if you prefer directness, realism & conventionality to allegory, abstraction & non-conformity. Read more
Critic Reviews (16)
CRITIC’S PICK ‘The Underlying Chris,’ You Are Who You Were" Will Eno’s new play about the many people each person contains is glib at first, but grows, like life, from trick to tragicomedy.
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"The Understated Charms of 'The Underlying Chris,' and a High-Decibel 'Crucible'"
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"The latest play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Will Eno, author of 'Thom Pain (based on nothing),' chronicles a life from infancy to death in unconventional fashion."
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"The subject of Will Eno’s new play is, he tells us, 'Life on Earth.'"
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"The 'Underlying Chris' Asks, What's in a Name? It Might Not Be a Self
Will Eno debuts his latest exploration of life, death, and the identity that coalesces in between.'
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"Will Eno's Charming and Sweetly Philosophical 'THE UNDERLYING CHRIS'"
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"Eno's efforts to universalize the title character works against him; his subdivision plan, parceling Chris out to different actors, allows us to follow him/her through the seven ages of man, but it prevents a recognizable person from coming into focus."
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"One of the Chrises ruefully admits, 'It's easy for people to forget who they are sometimes.' Perhaps this is true, but in Eno's lovely and thought-provoking play, 'The Underlying Chris' makes a memorable and indelible impression."
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4/5 stars "Will Eno's lovely and touching new play is a generous, kindly, and yes, downright old-school American look at an unremarkable life."
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4/5 Stars "A journey from the beginning of a life to its end, through moments that may seem inconsequential but leave us with much to savor and contemplate."
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"Will Eno's 'The Underlying Chri's is challenging to put the pieces together and consequently not for everyone. However, under Kenny Leon's tight direction, the play is provocative and stimulating, asking more questions than it answers. Its riddles will fascinate some theatergoers, infuriate others."
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"The fluidity of identity is a subject that almost seems tailor-made for Will Eno, one of our most philosophically-minded playwrights. So it's slightly surprising to discover how prosaic his new play on the subject, 'The Underlying Chris' turns out to be.
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"The fluidity of identity...is a subject that almost seems tailor-made for Will Eno, one of our most philosophically-minded playwrights. So it's slightly surprising to discover how prosaic his new play on the subject...turns out to be."
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Score: 85% "As Shakespeare famously calculated, "One man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages." But now, Will Eno has gone and changed the math."
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"Engaging but complex...Under Kenny Leon's keen direction, the eleven members of the cast grapple successfully with the multiple roles they play with distinction."
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"Nothing we see is particularly moving since the playwright’s conceit separates us intellectually from becoming deeply invested in what happens. Eno’s writing…is skillful enough to keep us curious, but the events of this universal life prevent anything from being especially surprising."
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