By Heart NYC Reviews and Tickets

92%

(3 Ratings)

Positive

100%

Mixed

Negative

Members say

Intelligent, Delightful, Profound, Ambitious, Absorbing

About the Show

An artist invites 10 audience members to join him in a deeply personal poetic experiment.

What appears as a relatively simple task—memorizing a poem—quickly unfolds into something more expansive, as improbable connections emerge between Boris Pasternak, Ray Bradbury, and a cook from the north of Portugal. Portuguese artist Tiago Rodrigues guides us on a moving journey to illuminate the places forbidden texts have found in our minds and hearts throughout history, as safeguards of humanity no tyrant or government can eradicate.

Show-Score Member Reviews (3)

Profound, Enchanting, Ambitious, Thought-provoking, Intelligent

See it if Ostensibly, 10 audience members learn a sonnet by Shakespeare. It's actually about censorship and how literature lives in our souls.

Don't see it if You will be bored by the repetition of a sonnet as 10 people memorize it.

Powerful, Beautiful, Funny, Moving, Delightful

See it if you see theater as a way to connect to people and stories, can revel in the beauty of words, will follow a passionate charismatic person.

Don't see it if bored watching people memorize. He teaches them in an entertaining manner, and provides meaning to it, but it does require repetition.

Delightful, Riveting, Profound, Intelligent, Absorbing

See it if You love literature, quirky theater, seeing something different. A 90 minute exploration of memory, text, and so much more. Very moving

Don't see it if You only like traditional narrative theater. This is an original way in to one person’s story

Critic Reviews (1)

"Literature is the great love of my life. And yet I’ve never liked memorization or recitation...the playwright and actor Tiago Rodrigues has changed my mind...After the show, as I waited for the subway, I read the poem aloud — once, then twice and again. The train pulled up, and I was so engrossed in the text, I nearly missed it. So give me some lines to memorize. I’m now a believer."
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Trailer

Creative team