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.

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.

Critic Reviews (4)

October 10th, 2016

Elizabeth Ahlfors

"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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October 11th, 2016

Tania Fisher

"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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October 7th, 2016

Samuel L. Leiter

“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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October 7th, 2016

Suzanna Bowling

"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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