See it if fans of Kathleen Turner
Don't see it if cheap staging could be overlooked if the acting were passable. Kathleen and Rebecca are good but the rest is painful. Nonsensical writing
See it if You like Kathleen Turner, she delivers a nice performance.
Don't see it if You like quality theater or writing. This is a low budget production and two actors are unfortunately miscast and deliver poor performances
See it if You're a huge fan of Kathleen Turner, you like plays that make you think, you want to learn a heartbreaking story about gender identity
Don't see it if You don't want to see shows about gender identity with great acting
See it if you are interested in the emotional upheaval experienced by someone contemplating gender reassignment.
Don't see it if you will be distracted by a very badly structured play.
See it if small theater, close up acting
Don't see it if not the best sets
See it if you are open minded and if you want an emotional meaningful play.
Don't see it if you are close minded and don't want a glimpse into a particular struggle of a couple during one member's decision to transition to male.
"This diligently educational play has the feel of a bad television movie, its ginned-up plot rife with implausibilities...That Ms. Turner keeps the production from teetering into camp is an achievement in itself, but that danger may be what makes the show so nervous about humor. It never finds its tone."
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"A mediocre play about a very important subject...'Would You Still Love Me If,' though not a deeply moving play, contributes in a safe and respectful format to the discussion we have all been having lately of transgender vs. sexuality...'Would You Still Love Me If,' though a soap opera, dares to bring-up the topic of transgender vs. sexuality, and lets us think about it and does not tie everything about it into a pretty bow."
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"Anastasi has set the stakes ridiculously low, leaving it up to actor/director Turner to endow the play with any sort of compelling drama. That she does, almost too well, ramping up the tone to high melodrama. Chockful of desperately played objectives and forced emotion, 'Would You Still Love Me If...' seems destined to become the camp sleeper hit of the season."
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"It's a subject loaded with controversy, passions and deep emotions and hopefully a New York stage will soon host a competent play about the subject. In the meantime, Anastasi's piece occupies New World Stages in what looks like an extremely low-budgeted production. The acting is good...But the play itself suffers from dialogue that sounds more like a lecture than actual people speaking and too much of the evening just isn't believable."
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"What could be a powerful play with a meaty plot has its strength and contemporaneity washed away by lecture-like dialogues and a politically correct language...All in all, it’s an ambitious play that consistently misses its opportunities for grand theatrical moments, for awakening empathy, for raising awareness, and for questioning of our contemporary gender and identity politics."
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"Serious as these themes are, there is much humor that comes out of the dialogue, and a genuine and touching sweetness...The actors all deliver their lines strongly and articulately, even if at times the performances are a bit too quick and careful...The coda, also, is slightly contrived, but, overall, 'Would You Still Love Me If…' is an insightful and accessible attempt to present very complicated feelings and ideas fairly, without being politically pointed or preachy."
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"Anastasi’s script is schematic and predictable, the dialogue stiff and stagey, and the air rife with clichés and soap opera. When a playwright uses a common expression like 'pièce de résistance,' and has a writer character ask for an explanation because she doesn’t speak French, you know he’s in over his head. Still, some of the talk about sexuality and medical procedures is interesting, and the brisk pace and slick, if not particularly convincing, performances help keep the piece afloat."
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"The decision by Turner, a Tony- and Oscar- nominated actress, to invest her time and talents in this unskilled play is baffling. 'Would You Still Love Me If…' is decently directed, professionally performed and well-intentioned. But Anastasi’s script, while earnest and enlightened, is so flawed as a drama that it would be put to better use as reading material for a transgender friend and family support group...The dialogue is generally so inept that it’s nearly an insult to the audience’s intelligence."
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