946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (77)
See it if You want to see an enchanting and " splendiferous " show that mixes music, puppetry, dancing and of course acting.
Don't see it if You think theater has to be old school. There is nothing " old " in this production, maybe not Kneehigh best show but it is still great
See it if Hopefully this lovely, touching play will come back to another venue sometime soon. Kneehigh Theater's joy and laughter are contagious
Don't see it if themes of unnecessary death in WWII would be too upsetting; it's sad, but it's beautifully done, with a light touch where necessary
See it if you would enjoy a wonderfully creative and energetic musical that is superbly crafted and performed
Don't see it if you are in the mood for something serious, but try to change your mood and go to see this
See it if This is an exuberant amalgam of almost all the elements of great theatre: music, staging, direction, sets, and acting combine to perfection
Don't see it if The script is fine but neither particularly lyrical nor powerful -- but it still manages to convey an emotional arc
See it if you're a fan of Kneehigh's work or if you enjoy a riveting true story told through the lens of brilliantly creative stage craft.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy puppetry, historical plays or heightened theatricality. If so, we can't be friends.
See it if You like creative shows using puppetry and unusual staging to tell the story. Kneehigh is one of the most inventive theatre companies ever!
Don't see it if Just go see it - it's fabulous.
See it if You want to experience a fantastic story told through music, dance, puppetry, vivid color, larger-than-life acting & grand storytelling!
Don't see it if You aren't up for a bit of World War II and the characters & events that period of history invokes. Be willing to see through child's eyes!
See it if you want great, varied music, dancing, singing, puppets, humor, history and a moral, all performed by a diversely talented cast.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy history and/or musicals.
Critic Reviews (19)
"So bubbly, energetic, and wacky that a few times during the performance, I was surprised by how suddenly I found myself choking up...Never heavy-handed or overwrought, '946' manages to tell a gentle, genuinely moving tale without cutting back on the clowning, drag, broad humor, music, and energetic dance...A highly spirited and inventive production, '946' lifted me out of troubled times present without ever spilling into saccharine nostalgia for troubled times past."
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"In this delightful family show, Rice provides a gripping, moving portrait of a community under siege…The Globe becomes an ideal arena for connecting its audience directly to the story, played out with an aching, fresh tenderness and surprise by its cast. The delightful Katy Owen plays lead role Lily, while Kneehigh artistic director Mike Shepherd doubles beautifully as her grandfather in the past and grandmother in the present."
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"This is part-history lesson, part-variety show: highlights include a song played on beer bottles, entrances on a fireman’s pole, and Winston Churchill performing a skipping display...And that makes for a weirdly meandering, disjointed pace, which flounders through all the shades of moral grey this story throws up. But somehow, there’s enough silliness, jazz and heartwarming sap to jolly us through to a joyful ending that’s more than just tickety boo."
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"Theatre's love affair with Morpurgo continues with this stage version of his novella...It makes for a winningly rumbustious family show, spilling over with song and dance and inventive cheek, that movingly affirms life in the face of the tragedy at its heart...I'm not sure that they've yet achieved the ideal balance between inspiring sentiment and inspired silliness and the proceedings feel a bit padded-out, but the sheer verve of the ensemble should delight punters of all ages."
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"'Adolphus Tips' brims with the imagination and invention that we’ve come to expect from Kneehigh, blending a carefree, homespun sort of charm with top-notch ensemble playing...It’s played a little too much for laughs and the storytelling tends to the meandering, but what wins us round each time is the fact that the piece is brimful of heart. There’s sadness but also lots of hope. It’s Morpurgo’s specialty spell, and in Kneehigh, Rice and the Globe he has found fine accomplice magicians."
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"It features all the now-familiar Kneehigh trademarks: music, meta-theatrical cleverness, actor Mike Shepherd in implausible drag, and a fundamental undertow of sadness beneath the onstage capers. Katy Owen is puckishly endearing as young Lily, but Ncuti Gatwa and Nandi Bhebhe as the GIs are sold short by a script that seldom engages with the obviously significant racial dimension...It’s simply a romp with occasional, dutiful sombre faces, and which is soon over, to no clear point."
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"Largely a feel-good, all-ages tale told with Kneehigh's customary agility and flair...Owen is astonishingly good...The action is presented with wit and verve...Although '946' has a fabulously footloose, skipping energy, it's a shame its story structure follows suit. Most of the narrative simply hops from minor event to minor event, and too much of it feels bitty and insubstantial...It takes a good while for the story to hit its beats. When it does, there's much to enjoy."
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"This family show mixes carnival and tragedy in a series of mash-ups, both merry and sad...The register shifts from poignant reunions to cartoon episodes...'War Horse' has given the combination of puppetry and Michael Morpurgo a powerful theatrical pedigree. '946' does not have the same steamroller power. Yet alongside its musical bounce it lands a strong argument...The stage is full of characters who should make audiences think again about the word 'migrant.'"
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