High Noon NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (31)
See it if you thrill to see great ensemble, great direction, excellent costume & sound design, minimalist set, smart adaptation of classic Western
Don't see it if repetition, surrealism, need for plot or deeper meaning drive your theatre choices. This is art for art lovers & doesn't always make sense Read more
See it if you want to see an expert cast tackle a tradition and make it their own. Superb lighting, perfect setting. great costumes
Don't see it if Only one hour (could be a positive for some)..
See it if you like quick, intense shows with a tight ensemble.
Don't see it if you want to see a musical, or a show with a tidy resolution. Read more
See it if you’d like to see a Western that blows the genre open, but not before it pays the original its deepest respects.
Don't see it if for you the Western is sacred, or you can’t bear to see the original film tampered with, or you’re looking for a conventional play. Read more
See it if Great acting , not long. They tell the story in a refreshing way. Yes it a western.
Don't see it if You want active and flash. Read more
See it if enjoy charged, non-preachy scripts evincing mysteries of human behavior: outsiders, insiders, principles, compromise, community, justice
Don't see it if you want either pure naturalism or a handkerchief-waving Western replica; you don’t like serious suspense Read more
See it if you'd like a great ensemble, stylistic staging, peroid costumes and intriguing symbolism in a proven story about moral code and civics.
Don't see it if if you disliked the film, or dislike non-traditional staging and delivery. Read more
See it if Pending arrival of murderer tests townspeople’s character. Staging & sound amplify the terror. Feels like “The Twilight Zone”. Well acted.
Don't see it if Ambiguous ending open to interpretation. Does it matter what happens next? Maybe these people are already in purgatory.
Critic Reviews (8)
“A far reaching adaptation of the very familiar 1952 western...Tension filled...the characters are dressed in black and dark grays immediately creating a sense of foreboding...and it can’t be good...The somber cast moves in tandem some of the time, as pocket watches open and close, as they stare in one direction; severe deadpan delivery provides the emotional buttress to a constant feeling of suspicion and waiting, waiting for something to happen.”
Read more
“Hollywood Western meets ‘Waiting for Godot’...An intriguing, at times unsettling evening of theater...Foreman dared to veer in the direction of truth, devising a realistic, nuanced narrative...Sharp has dug into Foremans’ screenplay, dissecting its emotional complexity...A truly ensemble piece. The uniformly excellent cast often moves as one...Unaffected choreography keeps the action moving despite the abstract, bare bones presentation.”
Read more
"The script, presumably cobbled together by the whole company, sticks fairly close to Foreman’s original, but with some odd digressions and odder directorial touches...Beyond the adjustments in plot and characterization, and there are several, director Randy Sharp has reconceived the material as something of an existentialist nightmare...Makes a reasonable case for reinvestigating and reinterpreting beloved old movies. But be advised, it’s missing a couple of reels."
Read more
"A famous Academy Award-winning Western film is reinterpreted for the stage. The tension created is riveting...The actors are on stage for the entire performance which lasts a little more than an hour. There is continual movement in which the characters ebb and flow into their scenes. The dialogue is crisp and appropriately clipped and melodramatic for the western genre...The impact is stylized, true to the spirit of a western yet somehow a dreamscape...This troupe has great style."
Read more
"Every performance is unnervingly suspicious...Presented as one long scene with no clear breaks, Sharp's dark vision feels like an inescapable nightmare...Despite its occasionally soporific tone, 'High Noon' couldn't be timelier as we reexamine political authority and who has the legitimacy to wield it. While the original film presented a black and white tale of duty, Axis admirably paints in shades of gray."
Read more
"A triumph of superior production design and physical staging, this 60-minute theatrical adaptation of the classic 1952 film 'High Noon' conceived by Axis Company is emotionally uninvolving...Director Randy Sharp has the cast of 10 on view and in motion for the entire time. They’re precisely and variably positioned all over the space and this yields numerous aesthetic stage pictures and tableaus. Some of which are gratuitous embellishments."
Read more
"Samuel Beckett’s 'Waiting for Godot' meets Clint Eastwood’s 'High Plains Drifter' in Sharp’s involving staging. All of the actors are onstage through the entire production as if trapped; their words move the tale from the hotel and the depot to the court and the prairie...'High Noon' is famous for, among other things, the building tension leading to the action-packed finale, but Sharp chooses another path there as well, providing a surprising, subtle twist."
Read more
"The intimacy of this 'High Noon' is as palpable as the storyline...In this town without pity or spine...neighbors, lovers, and business partners are interchangeable and the color scheme is film noir. The feeling was also vintage celluloid; French New Wave, to be precise. This haunting theatre piece—a simmering 75 minutes, no intermission—is a true ensemble performance with every actor connected and showcased."
Read more