9 Kinds of Silence NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%

(2 Reviews)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Thought-provoking, Profound, Confusing, Absorbing, Relevant

About the Show

A Mother and Son confront the cost of nationalism and war in a tense play about language & silence.

Taking place within a military tent near the shoreline of a war-weary nation, this play revolves around a Mother, responsible for receiving returning soldiers, and a Son who has just come back from combat. Their relationship remains ambiguous, as do their political affiliations. Throughout a single night, they must find the words to convey the horrors witnessed during the prolonged war fueled by nationalism and the rise of a dictator. 9 Kinds of Silence delves into the power dynamics of sound and silence, used as tools of protest, control, and oppression. Majumdar explores the creation of new adversaries by nation-states and the profound sacrifices made in the name of nationalism, where the silence of humanity becomes the ultimate expression of authenticity.

Member Reviews (2)

Thought-provoking, Profound, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you like superb acting by Hend, and an incredible vision by Majumdar as both playwright and director in this ever-present piece

Don't see it if you don't like long silences

During previews

Relevant, Slow, Thought-provoking, Confusing, Ambitious

See it if A bureaucratic secretary & a newly released POW meet in a dark reprocessing tent on the outskirts of an endless war zone Strong performances

Don't see it if Majumdar's script (& his direction) create a haunting environment where the horrors of war (both past & present) howl loudly in the silences

Critic Reviews (4)

" '9 Kinds of Silence' is the kind of messy, frustrating work that still deserves to be seen and pondered over."
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“There are a lot of maybes in 9 Kinds of Silence, largely because the playwright has constructed his nightmare world out of bits of varying world crisis spots, aiming for universality but often ending up with confusion… unlike, say, Harold Pinter's later politically themed plays, like Mountain Language, which evoke a terrifying atmosphere of repression, 9 Kinds of Silence often feels lost in a forest of generalities.”
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"Silence" is engaging and confusing on different levels and in surprising ways. Majumdar constructs the interaction between the protagonists to expose adroitly these contrasting reactions. It is primarily a monologue punctuated by disparate sounds and the silence of one of the players whose non-verbal actions communicate feelings and ideas from within a profound cone of silence until near the end of the play.
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"This is an incredibly difficult play for any actor to pull off, as silence is not empty space. Silence in its many forms is an elaborate symphony played with a full orchestra to an audience of deaf people. It is no easy task to master both the notes and their spaces and have them both ring out just as true when you’re the only instrument."
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Trailer

Creative team