This Flat Earth NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (237)
See it if you enjoy fresh, timely theater that examines what is happening in our world now. If you are ready to laugh and cry at the same time.
Don't see it if you don't want to watch characters confront dark, complicated emotions. If you are turned off by anything having do to with shootings. Read more
See it if you don't mind heavy subject matter. Though the writer does a great job of keeping moments of (sometimes laugh-out-loud) levity throughout.
Don't see it if you're turned off by (unfortunately) topical themes and events.
See it if You want a meditation on how gun violence in school is affecting the present and the future of students and parents-hard but important topic
Don't see it if If you've been personally affected by such an incident, this might be too upsetting. No violence is shown, but the topic is searing.
See it if You are interested in plays on current topics- shootings in schools, enjoy creative staging and solid acting and willing to let author lead
Don't see it if Looking for profound writing, don’t like Theater that touches current events, straight plays bore you Read more
See it if Relevant today.. Relationship between parent and daughter so well done. Interplay of teenagers so good see more re: the Mom and .....
Don't see it if Teenage Girls always portrayed in a negative way. Not sure if first few rows can see the entire set. Voices sometimes do not carry. Read more
See it if you enjoy plays with great character development and watching how each character is impacted by a tragic event.
Don't see it if you don't want to think about sad things or you would rather see a musical.
See it if You want more insight on a current and controversial social issue.
Don't see it if You do not want to deal with a current and controversial social issue from a teen's point of view.
See it if You like intelligent, current event focusing work
Don't see it if You’re looking for entertaining fun.
Critic Reviews (24)
"'This Flat Earth' certainly has a torn from the headlines timeliness. But the playwright has over packed it with too many issues that don't connect as smoothly as they should...There's another character whose presence offsets these flaws. That's Lynda Gravatt as Cloris...Gravatt's addressing some of Julie's urgent need to know what's next but stopping short of taking her through all the phases of a normal life makes for a wonderfully moving but realistically unpredictable finale."
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"Taichman, who won a Tony last year for helming 'Indecent,' is unable to add any depth to the proceedings or smooth over the script's awkward plotting and strange inconsistencies. The most grating example of the latter is when Julie, who is 13 years old, says she was unaware of any school shootings before the one she experienced. This type of sheltered innocence might fit Ferrentino's larger objectives, but it's completely at odds with the smart young person we've come to know."
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"Taichman’s direction is affectionately gentle – how could she not feel affection for Ferrentino’s beautiful script? Director and writer are of one mind and present a story that resonates. The cast is uniformly marvelous. Davis shines in petulant innocence, while Saint-Germain is only slightly more mature...Beck’s Lisa is far more chipper than a mother who lost her child should be, using cheerfulness as a very effective shield from the sorrow underneath."
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"While the subject matter couldn't be timelier, 'This Flat Earth' doesn't live up to its promise. Ferrentino has a lot of good ideas that even Taichman's celebrated direction couldn't coalesce...Julie and Zander are not fully drawn characters, they're generic preadolescents. And if the audience can't connect to them, the whole play becomes an intellectual exercise, not an emotional one. While the two young actors do a fine job, they are unable to rise above the material."
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"A great play is like a great voyage: terrifying in its vastness, simultaneously bewildering and thrilling. Such is the journey of 'This Flat Earth'...At the play’s opening and in its final moments, our young protagonist Julie begins to ask what is ultimately the most profound question of all: Are you there?...And with the beauty of great metaphor, as Julie's question resonates throughout the play, our questions begin...Devastating and perfectly stunning theatre."
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"As the #NeverAgain movement ricochets across FaceBook and Twitter...this compelling new play takes aim at their situation and dives in deep...Directed with an odd overly zealous and unfocused intent by the usually intense Rebecca Taichman...I applaud Ferrentino and Playwrights Horizons in their attempt, but some more work needs to be done to make 'This Flat Earth' feel more relevant and powerful overall, and less of a heavy burden for poor young Davis to shoulder."
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"It’s an original way into a difficult subject...I think the larger reason why the play feels off is because the questions it asks through Julie — and the suggestion that adults and those in positions of power have not done more to prevent school shootings as a result of desensitization or inaction — feels inadequate at a time when the level of passion surrounding the issue on both sides has never been clearer."
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"Ferrentino is clearly committed to dramatizing social issues. But she doesn’t make the mistake of trying to explain an inexplicable event...Observations feel knowing and assured, made all the more credible because of a persuasive cast, the steady direction by Rebecca Taichman, and the playwright’s playable specifics for her main characters...The cellist scenes demonstrate the thin line that can exist between artful and arty, and 'This Flat Earth' occasionally goes over the line."
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