Part of The Flea's "Mac Wellman: Perfect Catastrophes" series, "Bad Penny" asks: how do we make choices in the face of the end of the world as we know it?
Read more Show lessSee it if You want to see something in a nontraditional space. This was done outside in a courtyard
Don't see it if You are expecting to show up in a theater sit in a seat and watch a play that takes place on stage Read more
See it if like Mac Wellman. An old play that still engages today. staged well to get the audience more involved
Don't see it if need a linear narrative then skip this. Though this is a very accessible Mac Wellman play.
See it if you like Mac Wellman and the edgy theater the Flea is known for.
Don't see it if you expect to understand what is going on. Fun to watch, but ultimately I didn't get it.
See it if You’d like to sit outside and watch young actors throw themselves into the messy wackiness of a Wellman play about a road to hell thru NYC
Don't see it if You want clarity or a traditional play. It’s not Hadestown (although there is some singing!)
See it if you like cleverly meandering text circling around the meaning rather than spelling it out; you've never seen anything by Mac Wellman.
Don't see it if this is quite straightforward and accessible by Mac Wellman's standards but don't expect a plot-driven narrative play. Read more
See it if you want to see great performances as mercurial and dynamic as the weather.
Don't see it if it's so short and delightful that even if you get lost in Mac Wellman's language the show is still a good time.
See it if You want a unique (not too long) night at the theater.
Don't see it if You can’t stay outside for longer than an hour
See it if you like deconstructionist theater and if you appreciate an experience (rather than a coherent narrative).
Don't see it if you want structure, narrative, or a plot. This doesn't have a ton of that.
"Mac Wellman’s ‘Bad Penny’ Promises a Boat Ride to Hell: The Flea Theater has revived this brief play, in which a flat tire is the least of the problems you might encounter in Central Park."
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"Mac Wellman's skewering of America in 'BAD PENNY' and 'SINCERITY FOREVER' at Flea Theater"
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"From the evidence of the 1990 Sincerity Forever and 1989 'Bad Penny,' Wellman is not particularly interested in plot but makes copious use of satire, poetry and symbolism to write absurdist plays which skewer hypocrisy and pretense in America."
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"A day in the park in New York, but it's not a walk in the park….a heightened dramatic distillation and affectionate parody of what it's like to live in New York, and... to be a New Yorker.. would surely have worked better in a set, or setting, more recognizably NYC."
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"Nonlinear, linguistically challenging, intellectually slippery, politically charged, and morally determined…Wellman's script reveals considerable wit mingled with numerous provocative notions. Very little, however, comes through in the Flea's jumbled production."
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