Dear Jane
Closed 1h 30m
Dear Jane
50

Dear Jane NYC Reviews and Tickets

50%
(67 Ratings)
Positive
13%
Mixed
51%
Negative
36%
Members say
Confusing, Disappointing, Indulgent, Ambitious, Dizzying

About the Show

Set in a New York City rehearsal room, this new play focuses on a passionate artist named Julie as she explores her dramatic past. 

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Show-Score Member Reviews (67)

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52 Reviews | 8 Followers
77
Disappointing, Confusing, Indulgent

See it if you just enjoy seeing shows. The cast was talented.

Don't see it if you like going back and forth on the timeline. Choppy short scenes.

393 Reviews | 101 Followers
69
Ambitious, Indulgent, Great acting, Predictable, Disappointing

See it if You’re up for the play-within-a-play device, a mulch held together by lead Jenny Piersol & company, solid direction, light, sound & design.

Don't see it if You're expecting an autobiographical vehicle that has a point or something solid to impart.

290 Reviews | 92 Followers
66
Great staging, Confusing, Great acting, Ambitious, Intense

See it if You don't mind plays that are a bit over the top...and willing to go with the writer.

Don't see it if If want to see plays that make sense.

254 Reviews | 138 Followers
57
Banal, Confusing, Disappointing, Insipid, Quirky

See it if Small glimpse into backstage storylines intrigues you

Don't see it if You want Coherence

642 Reviews | 69 Followers
51
Incoherent.

See it if Don't.

Don't see it if No reason to see.

209 Reviews | 38 Followers
50
Meaningful to the author but not the audience. heroic effort by the talented and energetic cast to make me care failed utterly. a hot frenetic mess. sorry., Banal, Confusing, Indulgent, Overrated

See it if You know the author personally and find her life story endlessly fascinating.

Don't see it if You avoid people who bore you to death endlessly talking about their troubles..

120 Reviews | 12 Followers
50
Confusing, Disappointing

See it if You like the challenge of trying to follow a story where the time line bounces back and forth.

Don't see it if You want to see something that is funny or makes sense.

87 Reviews | 13 Followers
48
Confusing, Disappointing, Excruciating, Indulgent

See it if If you know the author and if you want to be bored and confused.

Don't see it if you don't know anyone involved in the play and you want a story that is consistant Read more

Critic Reviews (11)

Lighting & Sound America
July 27th, 2017

"'Dear Jane' is a concept in search of a play, a bewildering collection of dramatic bits that pretend to lay bare the soul of playwright Joan Beber while revealing nothing at all...Theatregoers who spend money to watch a play about a woman writing a play about herself may not be amused...'Dear Jane' is more painless that you might expect, because the director, Katrin Hilbe, makes sure that her cast -- every one of them personable and a pro -- maintains a lively pace."
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Theatre is Easy
July 26th, 2017

"Despite trying to cover too much ground at once, this is a well-acted, emotionally charged drama...There are plenty of touching moments of dramatic tension, but perhaps too many to encompass in just one play, to the point where some important moments are sped through to get to the next one...Despite a disorienting beginning and lack of character development, 'Dear Jane' becomes an enthralling play once it gains momentum. Under the direction of Hilbe, it features strong acting."
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Front Row Center
July 27th, 2017

"There are a lot of talented people doing excellent work on 'Dear Jane'...If only they had a play that was less frustrating than an all-white jigsaw puzzle to work with...I could recommend it...As it is, however, I can’t do that. Nor can I tell you what 'Dear Jane' is about. Which is the problem...Thank goodness the cast was so invested, talented, and magnetic that even though I was floundering, I still felt compelled to watch."
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Stage Buddy
July 27th, 2017

"'Dear Jane,' a very nice and hardworking play, is tangled in the weeds of the details of its story...The events themselves, jumping from one era to another, and never lasting for more than a minute, don’t coalesce into something substantive. We are left longing, at times overwhelmed, with a lot of details and not much understanding...This play has some serious self-reflection, and where many solo performances that deal with similar content fall short, 'Dear Jane' stands out."
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Front Mezz Junkies
July 26th, 2017

“The first few scenes held promise…There doesn’t seem to hold any reason to these quick succession of scenes, but we are given no time to dawdle on such details…The cast is game to all these quick and rapid-fire scenes...The director does manage to keep it moving and as focused as the text would allow, but doesn’t manage to save it from mangling itself.”
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Broadway Blog
July 26th, 2017

“Whatever plot there is has to be pieced together from the shards of Julie's life flying by in countless bits and pieces…Unfortunately, very little is particularly dramatic, the characters are too vaguely conceived for audience empathy…and scenes frequently end almost before they've started. This 'now you see it, now you don't' approach creates so few opportunities for emotional development that the production's lack of tension makes its 90 minutes seem twice as long.”
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Times Square Chronicles
July 30th, 2017

"'Dear Jane' is beyond confusing...Julie is constantly rewriting, as if to get a better ending. This wouldn’t be so bad if the dialogue weren't so cliché and trite...Who does succeed here are the actors...Katrin Hilbe does a good job in making her actors look good despite this material...'Dear Jane' seems written by somebody with dementia and we are expected to make heads or tails out of fragmented thoughts. In the end, I just needed an aspirin."
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R
July 26th, 2017

"'Dear Jane' is the non-linear, semi-autobiographical story of performance artist Joan Beber. Although the images, art and music of Ms. Beber are fascinating, the story is not captivating. It is too vignette driven to engage the audience fully."
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