See it if See a well-acted version of Shaw up-close.
Don't see it if The framing concept didn't really do much. First act drags but it does pickup in the second act
See it if you enjoy light comedies and integration of audience sing alongs
Don't see it if you don’t like plays in British accents (or inconsistencies of it), British humor, or can’t sit through long plays (2 hrs 40 mins) Read more
See it if you like Shaw, even one of his least popular shows. Acting is great, though as a morality play, it is hard to find anyone to admire.
Don't see it if You don't want to spend 2 hours and 45 minutes wondering what the play is really about.
See it if you enjoy a slow WWII silly comedy with an audience sing-a-long
Don't see it if you expect a show with some depth, want something more serious.
See it if Long rambling satire of British gentlemen & women frittering their time while the threat of war approaches. Humorous character acting.
Don't see it if Dated main theme of young woman deciding whether to marry old guy for money. Silly characters drawn out for 2 1/2 hrs. Not much substance.
See it if You love Shaw. You like long plays with lots of characters.
Don't see it if You want a coherent plot. This was very silly. Good acting, though.
See it if you'd like a novel "play-within-a-play" by an early (unrecognizable) Shaw. Sets & acting r great but too long & plays' themes don't meet.
Don't see it if You don't like very talky long shows. Also, in the spirit of the times, it is Acted with a capital A. There is humor. Oh - and singalongs.
See it if You're a big Shaw fan and want to see a cool new take on one of his plays.
Don't see it if You're bothered by really shoddy acting and a slow story. I don't know whether the shitty acting was a choice or not, but it didn't work.
"Shaw’s dramatic ruminations often have the wit to leap across years...In addition, he creates colorful characters to reveal his thoughts, and in the present case, an entertaining cast delivers the main course tastily despite the unnecessary trimmings...While the play is certainly not Shaw’s best and it gets excessively talky at points, it does flash wit and has the ability to be entertaining when properly acted, as is mostly the case here."
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"Staller has added an anachronistic framing device that opens the evening in the basement of a London theater during WWII...This turns out to be a very smart idea. It excuses a mix of acting styles and some mismatched costumes since the framing device calls for the fictional theater's backstage staff to take on roles in Shaw's play...Perhaps most importantly, the device creates a we're-all-in-this-together spirit...The production isn't afraid to have fun."
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"Shaw’s dialogue remains dense and argumentative, brimming with big ideas and ripples of humor. Unfortunately, though, the air-raid framing device—novel as it may be—backfires...When it comes to Shaw’s intent, most instructive and impactful were the notes in the program, not the action onstage. Try as they might, great performances all around are not enough to unify the tone and deliver the message of this play in this new adaptation."
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"Shaw is still timely, almost uncannily so...Staller has taken liberties with this production, although based on research. From various versions and examination of other documents, he has borrowed bits to fashion the script...The framing may seem unnecessary, as do moments of music hall sing-along, but it all works well...The cast manages to bring out the brilliance of the dialogue while skirting archness."
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“A delightful romp with enough slashes of black and gray to be as pungent as Shaw himself...A versatile cast...The first act has sluggish moments, before picking up the pace again. The second act, as well, stalls in the final unweaving of various love affairs, marriages and non-marriages. Yet, in all, David Staller brings out the relevancy of G.B. Shaw's diatribe against war coached in hilarity and eccentric characters against, in the distance, the threat of destruction.”
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"The actors in this current production are absolutely top notch with Karen Ziemba the most surprising to me because I’d never seen her except in musicals...She is matched in intelligence and scope by Alison Fraser...Not a lot happens; but there’s a lot to be learned; and all that information is spooned out with the help of the surprising, informative, and entertaining words supplied by then young Master Bernard Shaw."
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"Such a strong conceptual setup, and such a weak follow-up, reeks of gimmickry. Furthermore, without a strong guiding vision, much of the action feels static, despite an abundance of hijinks."
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"Unfortunately, this approach makes the show thin and silly, with little in the way of guts or hearts. By focusing on the Wildean aspects, Staller ignores the Shavian/Chekhovian aspects that could/would add up to a stinging critique of humans, our inability to stay out of war, and the idiocy of our romantic lives...The performers are uneven and seem to be in different plays--none of which is necessarily 'Heartbreak House.'"
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