Communion NYC Reviews and Tickets

75%

(30 Reviews)

Positive

73%

Mixed

23%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Resonant

About the Show

Urban Stages presents the U.S. premiere of Daniel MacIvor's play about what is needed to repair a familial bond under the pressures of religion, recovery, and a ticking clock.

In 'Communion,' Leda’s born-again daughter shouts a painful truth: "People don’t have mothers like you." The gap between Leda and her daughter is filled with silence and anger. Upon the advice of a therapist dealing with her own host of troubles, Leda tries to bridge that distance and prepare her child for the calamity just ahead. But are some bonds too damaged to mend?

Member Reviews (30)

Absorbing, Great acting, Intelligent, Great writing, Resonant

See it if you like theatre that doesn't fill in all the blanks for you. Great writing and an excellent cast produce that magic shared theatre moment.

Don't see it if you have no experience or interest or empathy for understanding parents with addiction and their children.

Absorbing, Great writing, Intelligent, Intense, Masterful

See it if you enjoy intelligent dramas about mothers and daughters, and the different roads they take through life. Excellent ensemble acting.

Don't see it if you are uncomfortable with many Pinteresque pauses and silences.

Great acting, Resonant, Thought-provoking

See it if You'll be touched at the poignancy and the hurt that's revealed in the therapist's office. Takes place in "real time".

Don't see it if You don't want to hear the tales of hurt. But what a powerful play. 90 minutes.

Cliched, Slow, Banal, Disappointing, Excruciating

See it if You like plays that are so slow you feel as if you could drive a train through the pauses between lines. Fly on the wall at therapy sessions

Don't see it if You want to see a well directed play that is original and holds your interest. Dysfunctional family plots are not your thing.

Absorbing, Clever, Entertaining

See it if you enjoy a good story and love theatre.

Don't see it if you're not interested in people's drama.

Absorbing, Great acting, Thought-provoking, Intense, Edgy

See it if You are interested in mother daughter conflicts and how it is trying to be resolved through therapy.

Don't see it if Mother and daughter issues don't concern you. You don't like the idea of someone getting therapy.

Absorbing, Great acting, Profound, Resonant, Intelligent

See it if examination of mother/daughter and client/therapist relationships and a women's own clashing self-images intrigue you.

Don't see it if you are impatient with intense, slow client development and evolution and plays about women and relationships, not action or complex sets

Touching, Great acting, Resonant, Slow but worth it

See it if If you like well-acted shows about family relationships.

Don't see it if If you don't like shows dealing with religion, death or alcoholism, or you prefer shows with a lot of action.

Critic Reviews (4)

"A puzzling play about three women...MacIvor lets the characters' stories evolve over 90 minutes of unsettling silences and verbal outbreaks...A questionable third scene comes months later...Both women are showing different sides of themselves and it is unclear what caused these transformations. MacIvor directs with an often sluggish pace, ending the scenes abruptly and leaving questions about these three lonely people who resist help from each other."
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"Obie Award-winning Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor doesn’t disappoint in 'Communion.' In this compelling and moving drama we are witnesses to the lives of three women, each in a various stage of both exposed and metaphysical discomfort. Enough cannot be said about all three cast members who are absolutely outstanding in their flawless performances...Credit for this theatrical phenomenon of course goes also to MacIvor’s unwavering script and thoughtful direction."
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“There’s surely a better (and funnier) play here than what comes across in this production. The interesting issues at stake (the values of psychotherapy, the conflict between atheism and evangelism, abortion politics, sexuality, etc.) all come off as little more than background color to a not very moving mother-daughter conflict. Let’s hope the upcoming stage adaptation of ‘Terms of Endearment’ provides the mother-daughter emotional heft that’s missing in ‘Communion’.”
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"There is so much wrong with this production it is hard to know where to start. First the direction: pregnant pauses last for what seems an endless amount of time. You want to scream, ‘Talk already!’ and then they do. Blah, blah, blah, endless words that mean nothing…This show is boring and endless…None of the scenes have any reality base…It is hard to comment on the acting as the play just left me cold."
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