Yen NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (148)
See it if you like new plays capable of surprising with two great young actors that also focus on the grittier side of life with daring staging
Don't see it if you're bored by coming of age plays, can't deal with a loud, out of control teen, don't want to see difficult family issues played out
See it if you can appreciate a raw, difficult look at the lives of kids whose upbringing is non-existent and whose very existence is precarious.
Don't see it if you aren't prepared to examine the harsh realities of kids who start life w/no chance. Hedges, Smith, Graynor, & Owen give stunning turns.
See it if Justice Smith is fantastic! All the actors, but, Smith is the 1-2-watch. Subject matter is tough & kept me wondering of the direction.
Don't see it if Hate profanity, psoriasis, smoking on stage, intimacy, European accents, porn, dysfunctional families, partial nudity
See it if you're looking for a dark & intense contemporary drama—a portrait of teens with absentee parents on welfare in poor socioeconomic situation
Don't see it if you can't stand vulgar language or do not follow urban British slang/colloquialism (this is not Queen's English), you want a light show
See it if You enjoy great acting as if things are really happening in front of you, you like dark drama and family issues.
Don't see it if You want some light plays, or mental health issues and physical abuse disturbs you. The English accent is also hard to recognize sometimes.
See it if You like character studies and seeing extremely intense action happen in a play. Great acting from all involved, albeit hard topics.
Don't see it if You have triggers about sexual violence or like light-hearted things. This show is intense.
See it if you like heart breaking tales. The UK seems to be enamored of teengae angst. Great acting by all 4 stars
Don't see it if you need a happy go lucky tale of lost teens. Read more
See it if You like strong acting by young actors given a good script. 14 & 16 year olds on their own, left by dysfunctional mom. Happy ending.
Don't see it if You don't care about adolescent angst.
Critic Reviews (31)
“Exhausting to take in, I wonder if Smith’s frantic energy, similar to that of a naughty jack russell, is just too much. Smith has definitely made a choice, and one consistently presented, but a calmer less annoying temperament might have caused us to engage more in this lost young man…It’s a tremendously challenging and difficult play that the young Anna Jordan has written. She shows great skill in storytelling and a wonderful ear for interaction.”
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"'Yen' dives headlong into the miasma of dysfunctional families without abandon and lands in a matrix of enduring questions that Jordan decides not to answer...The second act, more violent and shocking, still leaves the audience wondering why Jordan wrote 'Yen.' Cullman’s staging depends heavily on loud and violent projections to add to the mood of the play. It would seem giving more attention to Jordan’s script and trusting its strength would have given the piece more purpose."
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“Trip Cullman directs the play to the best of his ability but it is a Herculean task given the unenlightened material he’s been handed. From the beginning of civilization, most teenagers have had bouts of rage, angst, defiance, and sadness. Jordan explores all these emotions in her deeply flawed characters...In ‘Yen,’ we feel as lost and bored as the characters on stage…Jordan also fails in her attempts to be shocking. There is a line between being provocative and trying to be provocative."
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“What leavens 'Yen’s' sensationalism is the playwright’s precise observations of the moment-to-moment interactions…What makes these moments work above all are the performances by the four cast members…’Yen’ takes a turn towards violence that, in retrospect, feels inevitable – less for sound psychological or sociological reasons than because that’s the standard ending for these kinds of dramas...Director Trip Cullman can take credit for a production that is always watchable."
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“As Hench, Mr. Hedges is so believable as an adolescent on the edge of sanity…Trip Cullman has directed this piece with physical agility…Ms. Jordan’s play lacks in so many ways. First of all it is predictable. Second she never answers the questions the audience longs to know…Most importantly why make us watch something this horrible? There is a piece of my soul I will never get back and for what? This play taught me nothing except that these actors are all skilled and extremely gifted.”
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“The plot has a few contrivances that make no sense…There is too little context for the characters. We never learn what demons bedevil Hench…Cullman commits one of the cardinal sins of directing: shining bright lights in the audience’s eyes...When it was all over, I had to ask myself what was the play’s point. Is it just a slice of life about the British lower classes? A screed about the evils of porn and video games? Judge for yourself if you are so inclined.”
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"A searing, sordid portrait of alienated youth in a ripping production...Predictably a misunderstanding leads to tragedy, but the writing is so realistic and the acting and direction so sharp, this familiar story still has a walloping impact...Hedges and Owen feelingly convey Hench and Jenny’s tentative attractions and damaged psyches. Ari Graynor is brilliantly brittle as the out-of-control Maggie. The uniquely named Justice Smith gives a stand-out performance as the feral Bobbie."
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"Hedges turns out to be far more than just a Hollywood lure in ‘Yen,’ a tough, moving, deeply unpredictable drama…And he is hardly the only young discovery. Right there with him is Justice Smith...Jordan writes tough — verbally and physically. And director Cullman stages the American premiere as controlled emotional chaos, each scene separated by music of punk desperation and splatters of war videos. The end is a bit inconclusive but, then again, so are these fierce and fragile lives."
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