White Noise
Closed 3h 15m
White Noise
83

White Noise NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%
(171 Ratings)
Positive
90%
Mixed
8%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Thought-provoking, Absorbing, Ambitious, Relevant

About the Show

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks ("Topdog/Underdog," "In The Blood") returns to The Public with a world premiere play about race, friendship, and our rapidly unraveling social contract.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (171)

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175 Reviews | 30 Followers
100
Thought-provoking, Relevant, Profound, Masterful

See it if you are truly interested in nuanced explorations of race and privilege in the United States. The writing and acting are superb!

Don't see it if uncomfortable conversations make you uncomfortable. Or you like to live in the fantasy world that race relations are getting better.

52 Reviews | 31 Followers
100
Riveting, Profound, Intelligent, Epic

See it if You are interested in real, honest, heartbreaking shit. I felt this in my bones.

Don't see it if You are looking for something light and frivolous.

65 Reviews | 10 Followers
100
Relevant, Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting

See it if You'd appreciate a brilliant depiction of today's racial emotions among a mixed race quartet of men and women in round robin affairs.

Don't see it if You would be put off by raw actions involving slavery or don't want to spend over 3 hours on racial relationships. It's a harsh show.

228 Reviews | 36 Followers
100
Beyond relevant, A must-see

See it if you like shows that make you think about race, white privilege, black lives, and black history. See it for the fine acting.

Don't see it if you cannot relate to the black experience or interracial couples. Don't see it if you are a white nationalist. Read more

98 Reviews | 18 Followers
98
Relevant, Thought-provoking, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You enjoy characters who develop over the course of a play and take you places you didn’t expect

Don't see it if You like light fluffy content and re not interested in social realities

68 Reviews | 6 Followers
98
Thought-provoking, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You love excellent writing and acting. And if the tropic of race relations, looked at in a very unique way, appeals to you.

Don't see it if I can’ think of ant reason not to see it.

712 Reviews | 401 Followers
97
Great acting, Intelligent, Masterful, Riveting, Absorbing

See it if Great performances

Don't see it if Racial justice is not your concern.

548 Reviews | 1899 Followers
97
Profound, Must see, Masterful, Great writing, Great acting

See it if Everything about this was stunning, especially the script. Show of the year so far.

Don't see it if You can’t stomach riveting shows about race.

Critic Reviews (28)

The New York Times
March 20th, 2019

“Parks’s enthrallingly thought-packed new play...Directed with a radiant clarity...Superb four-member cast...Any annoyance I felt with Parks’s plot contrivances was erased by the thrill of the play’s uncompromising revelations of character...Four ravishing monologues, give this production its pulsing heart...Each performer has one, delivered with a devastating transparency...Though ‘White Noise’ runs a full three hours, and skids on some of its plot twists, it doesn’t feel long.”
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New York Magazine / Vulture
March 20th, 2019

“The brilliance of Suzan-Lori Parks’s eviscerating new play ‘White Noise’ is that underneath the finely crafted, often sharply funny apparent realism of its surface, its roots stretch deep away into archetype. Each one of its quartet of characters is at once an individual, nuanced and developed...’White Noise’ is a full three hours long, but its craft is tight and its stakes ever-intensifying.”
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Variety
March 21st, 2019

"Opens with a burst of brainy energy that lasts through the first act. But it takes a nosedive in the sloppy second half, confounding the assured direction of Oskar Eustis and the best efforts of a small, ace cast headed by the magnetic Diggs...Director Eustis has created a warm environment that allows the romantic affairs, close relationships and casual couplings to feel natural and unforced...Although well-played by the likable actresses, the female characters are hardly developed at all."
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The Hollywood Reporter
March 20th, 2019

“Parks' new play deals with many important issues...It sacrifices credibility, coherence and a compelling narrative in favor of didacticism. Parks doesn't quite seem to know what to do with her provocative premise once it's been established...The play feels bloated...with unnecessary subplots...That's not to say ‘White Noise’ isn't engrossing at times. The drama makes many incisive points, and the dialogue frequently rings true even if the characterizations and situations don't."
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AM New York
March 20th, 2019

"Notwithstanding its far-fetched and questionable concept, ‘White Noise’ is mostly engrossing and provocative. It is also overstuffed, with portions that are jumbled and stagnant (including rambling confessional monologues), suggesting that the play would benefit from further revision...Eustis’ intimate and intense production is built around a quartet of electrifying, multilayered performances.”
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Theatermania
March 20th, 2019

"Suzan-Lori Parks's heavy, messy, fascinating play...That the entire play doesn't fall apart under the weight of this ludicrous premise is a testament to the heft of Parks's language and the unflappable ability of this cast to sell it. Diggs leads the way with an emotionally exposed performance...Each of the actors gets an extended monologue, and they use it to capture our imaginations with Parks's trenchant observations."
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BroadwayWorld
March 23rd, 2019

"The always thought-provoking Suzan-Lori Parks reverses the situation and finds the danger; not just for her characters, but for audience members who may not like the thoughts going through their heads as they witness her heady social commentary...The superb cast, under Eustis' direction, plays it with believable conviction, and it's the ideas behind the plot that rise to the forefront."
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Lighting & Sound America
March 21st, 2019

"Parks makes her argument with such vigor, pursuing her outrageous premise through a series of exquisitely probing confrontations, that long before 'White Noise' reached its shattering conclusion, I had surrendered...Despite its white-hot central plot device, 'White Noise' is marked by the maturity of Park's vision, her penetrating insight into her characters. Oskar Eustis' assured production is marked by smart casting."
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