Happy Days (TFANA) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (56)
See it if you want to see one of our great actresses tear into an absurdist classic in a pitch-perfect production
Don't see it if you have no patience for Beckett being Beckett.
See it if See if you enjoy and appreciate Samuel Beckett. An outstanding performance by Dianne Wiest. Relax as you experience a memorable play.
Don't see it if Do not see if you are unfamiliar with Beckett or expect a simple , uncomplicated play or musical.
See it if You enjoy Beckett, even if you can only bear his cheeriest work, which this is. No, its not a laff riot, but you can smile.
Don't see it if You don't think it appropriate for a playwright to ask you to consider the value, the purpose, the meaning of your life here on the planet.
See it if you enjoy having to do lots of thinking.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy having to do lots of thinking.
See it if you want a master class in acting from Dianne Wiest in a masterful post-apocalyptic tragicomedy from absurdist genius, Samuel Beckett.
Don't see it if Beckett's not your cup of tea... although I think this play, esp. as interpreted by Wiest & James Bundy, may make you appreciate his work.
See it if Youre a Beckett fan, like diane weist and enjoy a 2hour monologue about love death and the absurdity of life.filled with pathos,dark humor
Don't see it if You dont like beckett, are looking for plot driven, action play.
See it if you want to think or are a fan of Dianne Wiest or Beckett.
Don't see it if you are looking for a cleanly plotted story. This requires thought and is definitely not for those looking for clarity.
See it if you love Dianne Wiest and you want to spend time researching Beckett and what he's trying to say. Lots of food for thought.
Don't see it if You need no food for thought
Critic Reviews (23)
"The entrancing, harrowing two-act play is widely considered one of Beckett’s best...As portrayed by Dianne Wiest, Winnie flaunts a breezy attitude for the entire first act, while uttering lines that tear at one’s heart...It's perhaps part of the genius of Beckett’s art to provide fodder for a seemingly inexhaustible array of arguments, propelling the thinker to dive ever more deeply into her thoughts."
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“It does seem…that Act One's pacing, with so many long pauses, is a bit draggy and that Wiest…seems more concerned with her moment by moment thoughts than any ultimate objective...However, Wiest, faithfully carrying out Beckett's detailed business, perfectly matches her own winsomeness to Winnie's struggle to maintain an upbeat attitude in the face of the inevitable. Lovers of Beckett and Wiest will have little to complain about.”
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"Samuel Beckett’s bleak, comic and compassionate play...Wiest handles the comic moments deftly, but there seems real feeling when her Winnie momentarily drops her deliberate optimism...There is no question that Wiest delivers an impressive performance...Two hours of even a hauntingly humdrum existence is at least a half hour too long. Nevertheless, 'Happy Days' is the Winnie show, and Wiest makes the most of it."
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"Wiest comes out with flying colors...Much of the enormous challenge a performer faces is Winnie’s undeterred rambling. Holding interest has to be difficult, but it turns out to be a piece of cake for Wiest...I’ll go so far as to say that Wiest’s act two is the best interpretation of the heartily harrowing role I’ve ever witnessed. Wiest conveys the ravages of time superbly as well as disturbingly—in a play about nothing if not Beckett’s insistence that time gets us all in the lonely end."
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“Effortlessly funny and sad and moving….Somehow all of life’s mystery and horror are contained in what she says though damned if you can put a finger on how Beckett does it…Wiest is a treat, navigating the text with ease, taking you on the almost invisible journey this person is on...What the heck does it all mean? I do know coming out of the theater you don’t really care when it has cast its spell…It’s meaningful and meaningless; pure theater and perhaps anti-theater. In the old style.”
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"Wiest's performance can feel overly mannered in the first half of the show, although she dazzles after intermission...It’s a play in which you have to keep your eyes on her, but you’ll be mesmerized by Wiest’s tantalizing performance in this second half. However, director James Bundy never quite establishes a connection between Winnie and Willie, who is relegated to merely an afterthought."
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“Bundy’s splendid production has the superb Dianne Wiest as Winnie, an eternal optimist who fights constantly against the darkness…Wiest, with her quirky persona, is able to move between the comic and the serious aspects with consummate ease…Wiest does a terrific job of keeping one’s interest…The production achieves a delicate balance between intellectual allegory and popular entertainment, and it should not be missed.”
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"Beckett never abandoned his affection for his characters, but he never condescended to them, either. The genius of Ms. Wiest is that just beneath her breathy, matronly chirrup lies surprising complexity."
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