Alternating Currents NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (29)
See it if You're interested in the lives of residents of a housing complex
Don't see it if You want some originality. Read more
See it if Union housing in Queens welcomes interracial couple, but proves to be rife with prejudice. Electchester & Pomonok are real communities.
Don't see it if See it if you can. A poignant portrait of insidious prejudice in NYC
See it if THE PLAY WAS A DELIGHT.IT FOCUSED AROUND TWO YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITY.THEN THINGS START TO HAPPE
Don't see it if IF YOU DON'T ENJOY A PLAY ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR STRUGGES. Read more
See it if You want to see a play about housing in the nyc area and if you want to see select few good actors make bad writing so much more bareable
Don't see it if You don’t have an hour and a half to kill, you find annoying actor/narrators obnoxious like me, can’t ignore weak writing Read more
See it if You enjoy plays about communities.
Don't see it if You want an elaborate production: this is simple.
See it if different personalities and inc readable cast
Don't see it if songs are a bit long
See it if you’d like to see an honest consideration of the Utopian ideal of cooperation across races & sexes, & the real obstacles standing in its way
Don't see it if the dog-eat-dog world has killed in you any hope that conditions could be materially different than they are now. Read more
See it if You are interested in the challenges of economic, social, and racial diversity that make it hard for communities to be functional.
Don't see it if You don't like small cast productions in small theaters. You like a more traditionally structured play.
Critic Reviews (6)
“Seems more interested in providing tidbits about Electchester than working up anything like drama...Elena and Luke are the blandest of ingenues, doomed to play second fiddle to a lively cast of supporting characters. Indeed, their troubles are barely dramatized; the playwright has opted for a jigsaw puzzle structure, needlessly jumping back and forth in time, with scads of unnecessary narration caulking up the empty spaces between scenes.”
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“Despite the complexity of the interactions of the people of Electchester and the poor folk at Pomonok, Kraar manages to end on a promising note. ‘Alternating Currents,’ produced under the auspices of the Working Theater, is a diverting look what happens to an idyllic place after decades of reality intrude.”
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“Written by Kraar, ‘Alternating Currents’ is rooted in community...researched...by creating theater for and about working people...The take away is both a positive and a negative...living in this utopian based grouping certainly creates a feeling of belonging, common goals and friendship. However, it has its inherent problems of divisiveness based on race and bias and the pressures of group expectations...The competent acting team furthers the contradictions raised in this environment.”
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“Part romantic drama, part social commentary, and a dash of historical pageant play...Kraar’s play evolved from interviews with residents of Queens...As interesting as the history is, it doesn’t really catch fire dramatically, with its overall ‘there’s good and bad everywhere’ take on things...Kraar’s scenes jump in time so the momentum is broken...The characters, though embodied by fine actors, take a back seat to a place and an idea.”
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"Takes an admirably complex view of the communities that it examines...Vaynberg and Bowen exhibit great chemistry together in addition to communicating their characters' conflicted personal journeys. Arcaro perfectly embodies the type of assertive, experienced working man that one could picture falling into conversation with...’Alternating Currents’ perceptively explores the messy realities of living and laboring in NYC, and, by extension, the United States today."
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"'Alternating Currents' hones in on the concept of community, and what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself. In a city of 8 million people, it’s easy to be swept up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life without ever laying down roots, supporting the theory that people in New York never get to know their neighbors. 'Alternating Currents' flips that theory on its head through its exceptional cast."
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