See it if You think that your life is boring
Don't see it if Someone from your family has mental illness, the play may be offensive
See it if you like something light and entertaining. Acting is very good and there are some nice laughs. Overall a good piece.
Don't see it if if you are looking for something deeper than it is. There are some character disconnect. Its a bit flat in parts.
See it if if you like plays about the perniciousness of marriage, family and relationships.
Don't see it if you've seen many plays with the same theme.
See it if U want to see a wedding nite that should be happy, turned on its head. And we see how the lies & hurts revealed affect the next generation.
Don't see it if You're looking for a straight forward romance. Decades of marriage don't mean happiness. Sometimes the truth is a blunt instrument.
See it if You want a well acted, light albeit funny production of a woman torn between the desires of her heart and the expectation of others.
Don't see it if Loveless marriage and its negative effects on the entire family. You are uncomfortable watching one facing the onset of dementia.
See it if you enjoy dramas about dysfunctional families, with some humor.
Don't see it if you don't like dramas about dysfunctional families. Read more
See it if You enjoy family dramas. You want a drama w/comedic elements. You want great acting.
Don't see it if You want 2 fully cohesive acts-the acts don't match in tone. Act 1 is an over the top sitcom, Act 2 is a real-life drama w/comedy.
See it if You enjoy laughing, like a story that starts in one year and ends 46 years later...all loose threads tied. All the Actors are excellent.
Don't see it if You want a great ending, the last 5 minutes are downers...and I think could use some re-writing.
"I won’t go so far as to say it borders on resolutely good...To give Silver some credit, he makes clear—or clear enough—what he wants to say with 'This Day Forward.' It’s a form of the old saw about the sins of the parents being visited on the children...The characters are so off-putting that they discourage any audience sympathy...The cast members do as right as possible with the requirements and as directed with his usual high level of competence by Mark Brokaw."
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"Few playwrights can spin hilarity out of tragic circumstances as well as Silver...The dialog is often brutally funny. To say more would be to reveal too much. The entire production is top-notch. The cast of six, some doubling roles, are all superb...Longtime Silver collaborator Mark Brokaw directs with a sure hand. With Silver, the style sometimes threatens to overwhelm the substance, but that is a flaw I can accept."
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"Comes together in the second act with more strength than in the first act, although there is much humor in the initial half too...Despite the laughter induced, the first act drags out so much that one’s patience can be tested...Silver takes a whack at marital relationships. Heterosexual or gay—it doesn’t matter. Relationships can be hell, and people’s dreams can remain unfulfilled and only wispy memories."
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"You have the recipe for a first act which is, despite what tries to pass for antics, painful, sad and over long...This is not the Nicky Silver we know–which would be fine if it worked...The premise of the story might make a good 1950s, black-and-white melodrama if we cared. Alas, we don’t. Director Mark Brokow does the best he can with the material. His skill is obvious."
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"Hilarity should ensue, especially since Joe Tippett, a master at playing lovable lunks, has been cast as the other man. But everyone else seems, under Mark Brokaw's unsubtle direction, to be trying too hard, almost turning to seek the audience's approval after each funny bit...The more interesting second act...Here I felt as though I was getting the unedited notes from one of Silver's therapy sessions...I wish him well as he tries to resolve his issues with his mother."
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"Silver's caustic new play focuses on the damage that parents can inflict on children—it’s a broad canvas of emotional (and sometimes physical) abuse, distilled into two acts set a generation apart...Under the direction of Mark Brokaw, the actors in the play are terrific...Yet the characters sometimes veer toward caricature...If the whole feels a bit too programmed for quirkiness, there are plenty of jokes to leaven this dark survey of curdled love and romantic disappointment."
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"The play’s first 10 minutes are great fun…In the telling of how things evolve, ‘This Day Forward’ unfortunately loses the snappiness of its opening, becoming predictable and notably padded…The second act ultimately comes down to the sad but mundane matter of who’ll take care of Mom…The play has by then become fairly formulaic, and not in a persuasive way…The evening ends on a tentatively positive note, which, after the chaos we’ve witnessed, is perhaps the most unbelievable aspect of all."
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"Upon a bit of reflection this was not the Nicky Silver play I expected. However, that is not to say that I didn't enjoy it or it wasn't good. I think Mr. Silver tried some new things here...Structurally, Mr. Silver has a great idea - 1958 and fast forward to 2004 two generations living the consequence of what we saw in Act 1...Act II is by far the more biting, acerbic, and serious of the two acts and judging from the audience reaction - the more successful and satisfying of the two as well."
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