What I Did Last Summer NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (6)
See it if you love ARG's work. I find it dull, and often annoying. WIDLS added special effects (drummer, script projected), but they failed to enliven
Don't see it if you want something fresh. If you like the tried-and-true, this was a perfectly acceptable coming-of-age story, well-acted/competently staged Read more
See it if You like classic, American coming-of-age stories.
Don't see it if You want something new and weightier.
See it if you're a fan of A.R. Gurney (it's his best work that I've seen) and you like strong performances.
Don't see it if you don't like straight plays.
See it if you like christine nelson - she was excellent - as was the entire cast
Don't see it if you aren't into off broadway so much
See it if you like Gurney's work.
Don't see it if you're not a fan of slow plays that have nothing earth-shattering to say.
See it if interested in small theater. I had seen this show as a first , performed for many but financially I was able to afford this good show only
Don't see it if You have no interest in small theater companies .
Critic Reviews (18)
"There’s a crudeness in the patterns of conflict and resolution that propel 'Summer' toward its sigh of an ending. Mr. Simpson’s production asks us to consider these shortcomings using the same generous spirit with which Mr. Gurney’s play is written...Because in this rendering, 'Summer' is a playwright’s coming of age as reflected in the writing of the play...These self-conscious framing devices give 'Summer' an emotional substance it might otherwise lack."
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"A playwright is really asking for it when he creates, in a semiautobiographical work, a conflict whose glorious resolution is the writing of the play itself...Alas, it never makes the case that its two halves are even related, let alone that they add up to something important. And if the proof is supposed to be what we’re seeing onstage — well, I’m not sure the boy learned enough of a lesson from Anna’s sacrifice."
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"Perhaps it’s the wartime, summer-on-Lake-Erie setting, but there’s something cozily familiar about What I Did Last Summer, A.R. Gurney’s 1982 autobiographical coming-of-age drama that’s currently receiving a tender revival...Some call Gurney old-fashioned. But last I checked, there was no expiration date on American coming-of-age stories."
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"Exceptionally engaging...'What I Did Last Summer' is a portrait of the artist as an obnoxious, whiny, demanding, horny, belligerent, mouthy teenage boy, long time ago. Charlie, is the most annoying boy since Neil Simon’s Eugene Jerome. Like Eugene, Charlie’s saving grace is that we know he will grow up to become, in this case, A.R. Gurney, whom we admire as the author of tons of plays we’ve loved over the years."
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"The Valuable Lesson play tends be predictable: Somebody somehow ends up learning a heartwarming thing or two about life and one’ s self. This is exactly what happens in 'What I Did Last Summer,' but it’s easy to overlook the story’s banality since the show’s warmly engaging, inventively staged and elevated by a wonderful cast."
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"Easy-to-like revival of A.R. Gurney’s modest 1981 memory play...'What I Did Last Summer' has some laughs but little sting. But thanks to the strong acting and staging, the show provides a mellow buzz."
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"An imaginative riff on this era of cookie-cutter living, shaken by the profound platonic romance that unfolds between a boy and the teacher who shows him his own potential...Gurney uses the play to tell the story of his own childhood 'Anna,' adding another fascinating layer of history to the memory play and insight into its author's own creative journey."
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"Despite some formulaic predictability, Gurney's 1983 play has an arch charm about it and director Jim Simpson's crisply-staged production is well-acted and pleasing...the play never digs deeper than the expected conflicts that pop up in such stories. Gurney writes up some very funny slice-of-life scenes and the production never fails to entertain, but 'What I Did Last Summer' never pulls you in emotionally."
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