What Did You Expect?: Election Year in the Life of One Family, Play Two NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Tony Award-winning playwright and director Richard Nelson returns to The Public Theater with part two of his new three-play cycle about a year in the life of the Gabriels of Rhinebeck, New York.
Show-Score Member Reviews (82)
See it if you are a lover of slice of life plays. I can't explain fully why these plays about regular people move me so but they do.
Don't see it if you're not ready to give yourself to these.
See it if you believe good theater depends on its actors and writers. Great ensemble cast with lots of chemistry. Not one line feels insincere.
Don't see it if you don't like hanging out with your relatives or you prefer high octane action.
See it if You're worried about the upcoming election, even if you're not heavily invested in politics. You want to see a very relatable play.
Don't see it if You don't like dark drama Read more
See it if We sit in the dark watching a family in their kitchen preparing a meal. It is so natural you cannot believe they are acting.
Don't see it if You do not appreciate small, intimate, natural, shows. Surely, a performer who appears not to be acting is doing the most superb job.
See it if You like great acting and thoughtful writing. You care about the problems of real people.
Don't see it if You prefer action and easy to digest entertainment.
See it if You're looking for something smart and engaging without a lot of flash
Don't see it if your'e looking for spectacle or political humor Read more
See it if you have a heart. This play occupies that quiet place inside all of us where our mother (hopefully) knew just how & when to hold & love us.
Don't see it if you need action or fast paced anything. This is like a recipe. It takes time to prepare and bake before it's ready to be consumed.
See it if You enjoy shows like The Human. This is a conversational play. You're watching a family go through life. You're observing.
Don't see it if You prefer a play with higher stakes. This is a very mellow play with 'real' people. Not Huge animated characters.
Critic Reviews (26)
"There's a specific acting company for each series, too, six performers who essay the same roles in each work. The result is the creation of an actual, believable family, the kind you can expect to be stung by the immensity of losing a brother or a spouse, and one that is, despite the goings-on, immensely enjoyable to spend time with...Director Nelson and the six-member company convey their bleak emotions with great finesse."
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"The fate of the Gabriels is rendered without hysteria or speechmaking. But if you listen closely to them, you'll feel the pressure they're under, their sense that shadows are gathering nearer, ready to engulf them...Under Nelson's direction, his company has perfected a low-key, highly naturalistic acting style that perfectly suits the novelistic detail of his writing. The Gabriels can be enjoyed simply for an ensemble so seamless that you often feel like you are eavesdropping on old friends."
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"Nelson is virtuosic in his ability to tackle these issues...The acting, again by a peerless ensemble, bestows unheard-of life on this painfully naturalistic rendering of a people and a country in crisis. Plunkett remains absolutely stunning as Mary...She provides the riveting core for the evening—and, to this point, this trilogy...The problem with 'What Did You Expect?' is that, like its predecessor, it feels more like a proof-of-concept exercise than a play."
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“‘The Gabriels’ cycle define a moment in time, as well as being chamber plays, small cast plays set in one place. Not much happens but much gets said and discussed. Described as ‘Chekhovian’, ‘What Did You Expect?’ is less so as there really is no dramatic event as in such Chekhov plays as ‘The Cherry Orchard’ or ‘The Seagull’. ‘What Did You Expect?’ offers its own rewards but may not be for all theatergoers.”
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"While the focus remains on the personal, world events and the tempestuous current election campaign are very much reflected in the Gabriels' lives...As this surreal and seemingly endless campaign has reached a point where it's hard to stay fully engaged, the same is true for this middle play which was 'frozen' before the upcoming debates and could benefit from a little less talk."
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"Resounds with up-to-the minute politics...The real meat of the play is referencing societal injustices and keeping a political agenda, expected in a theatrical environment–a liberalism that sometimes needs to answer many questions...The conversations are simply stated, the realities hit home and one doesn’t need to look up words or do research to find that all human beings desire the same basics and that they want to know there is still hope."
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"They do such a good job of not talking about what is going on that the conversation sinks to a mild pot of gruel...Like the unremarkable evening it chronicles, this play is also unremarkable–in every way. The actors carry on as best they can, pulling the shroud of conversation close about them and picking through it for scraps of life. The conversation is so lugubrious that one gets the feeling that they are simply waiting for their cue to speak. The one exception to this is Roberta Maxwell."
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"These actors, all working seamlessly together, are giving us the purest and most straight forward depiction of a family that I have seen in a long time...It’s an intense and lovely piece of storytelling, meandering at moments, but engaging over all. The cast are pros throughout, and their difficulties are easily felt by us all. What Nelson is doing with this family and this three part 'Election Year' saga is impressive."
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