Latter Days
About the show
Dutch Kills Theater presents the world premiere of a drama about a demented (or possibly visionary) "King" and his sole loyal subject, awaiting the apocalypse together. More…
In a forgotten basement beneath the streets of some godforsaken metropolis, a self-described King of Heaven and his long-suffering servant Dead Bill are waiting for the world to end. For 11 years they have shared, with no one but each other, the strange rituals of their secret faith in the coming rapture. Now, at last, the apocalypse is at hand. And when the time comes, nothing will be the same.
“An inventive take on the apocalyptic genre…It takes a bit of time to get into this play, but once you accept its given circumstances, the drama between the two men is utterly gripping…’Latter Days’ would never succeed without an immensely talented and committed pair of performers, and there is no doubt that Tony Torn's fragile dignity and Will Dagger's utter earnestness sell the piece entirely. But what really makes this production stand out is its impeccable design.” Full Review
"Ben Beckley's 'Latter Days' feels like an early draft of a Samuel Beckett play...It's not easy to avoid the masters when you're trying to craft something short and sharp...'Latter Days' is well performed, but Beckley's play is too much of-a-piece with the works it emulates—at its worst, it can feel derivative...The garbage-royalty motif is reminiscent of Alfred Jarry's 'Ubu Roi,' and we've seen these little rituals and abuses between Beckett's all-too-similar Hamm and Clov." Full Review
“The trademark Beckettian rhythm and language is at play here, eliciting the same kind of laughter that feels wrong when it happens. Chayes directs and her simplicity and precision shines…It’s far too reminiscent of the Beckett world without being different enough to warrant its necessity. Although its themes of grand delusion and co-dependent power relationships couldn’t feel truer.” Full Review
"An absurdist play that is strong on form but less so on substance…There is no faulting the excellent performances of the two actors, or of Jess Chayes's direction...Yet 'Latter Days' feels sketchy, like an academic exercise in dramatic writing that combines Elizabethan phrasing with the theatrically absurd planes of existence of Beckett and Ionesco. There simply isn't enough context to sustain what is essentially an allegorical tale about the fanatically obsessed leading the gullible." Full Review
See it if you are a skeptic, enjoy willing suspension of disbelief in order to think, are okay with a slow pace
Don't see it if you are not patient for slow pacing, are easily religiously offended, or are looking for something light.
See it if you enjoy intimate settings with two captivating actors who carry the show start to finish.
Don't see it if you want a profound show and a clear ending.
See it if Video gamer style mythmaking of the most banal kind is your thing.
Don't see it if A cheesy bargain basement knockoff of a Beckett type theater of the absurd play would send you running for the exit.
See it if you are interested in oddball religious cults, esp doomsday cults. It'll make you think, but only if you care about the topic to begin with.
Don't see it if you're looking for a varied and exciting plot. You know within the first 15 minutes how the show is going to end, and it moves predictably.
See it if The biblical, Shakespearean, densely poetic language was very compelling, but I saw the end coming within the first 5 mins.
Don't see it if Thank goodness the bodily fluids only looked realistic vs smelling so, because I was in the front row and that was bad enough.
Also This playwright has a deeply original voice, and I was truly mesmerize... Read more Read less
See it if If you want to see some experimental theaters. The acting was good, and the actors are brave to take such roles.
Don't see it if You don't want to be disgusted: there are urinations during the show. The scenes are also repetitive and don't make sense to me at times.
See it if You want to see a self proclaimed king and his subject as they exist each day and count down to the last days.
Don't see it if You want a big production. You need more than two people on stage. You don't like a dark production.
See it if you like shows that create a definite dark & tense atmosphere, with apt portrayals of self-delusion and manipulation.
Don't see it if you don't have patience for shows with very little plot movement, where you don't know much more at the end than you did at the beginning.
Also Simply put, this is a very well done production of a play I don't care... Read more Read less
See it if you're interested in 2 man shows depicting a sort of sad, doomsday mental illness relationship. Maybe worth it if you live close to theater
Don't see it if There's not much plot & the writing isn't very good. Acting is so-so. It's slow & repetitive & dull, leading several people to fall asleep.
See it if you want to get a handle on an example of Christian fanatics who, through repetition of fear tactics, find followers who have no direction
Don't see it if have difficulty watching people being manipulated and then let down by the very person they respected and believed in.....
See it if You subscribe to a nihilistic view of the world and think watching an individual sitting on the toilet and ruminating is entertaining.
Don't see it if You have any hope for humanity and want to come out of the theater feeling better not worse about the human condition.
See it if You know someone involved w/ the production. You think a man ton a toilet is high art.
Don't see it if You value good acting & playwriting. You're not in the show's inner circle-several unfunny bits got big laughs from a few in audience.
See it if You want to experience a night of awful incomprehensible theater.
Don't see it if You don't want to be bored to death by a play that pretends to have a message ( our days on earth are coming to an end )
Cast & Creatives (9)
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