Life According to Saki NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (71)
See it if you like the writer Saki/Hector Hugo Munro, you like puppetry, & charming short shows.
Don't see it if you don't like British humor
See it if like watching a very talented group of young actors doing interchangeable parts and puppetry w/o missing a beat
Don't see it if not interested in the life of a upper-class clever, gay man who wrote stories and was shot and died in WWI Read more
See it if You want to delve into Life According to Saki. You want to see a well acted play by a great group of performers. You want to laugh.
Don't see it if You don't want to hear great stories. You don't like plays that have really interesting puppetry. You don't want to see a great performance.
See it if You're open to unconventional theatre and want to experience excellent short stories on the stage.
Don't see it if You're wearing really warm clothing - the theatre is super hot. Also, if you only like musicals, don't bother.
See it if you enjoy unique stories enacted by a talented cast in an intimate setting.
Don't see it if you cannot appreciate an odd sense of humor or a macabre story such as "Esme". Read more
See it if You like comedy and WWI themes, you like English accent, and humorous while sober attitudes towards life.
Don't see it if You want a coherent story. This play is literally a collection of stories in the same social background that are not related to each other.
See it if You're interested in a witty, satirical production of Saki's short stories. It made me want to read his work.
Don't see it if Really no reason not to see it. You don't have to be familiar with Saki's work to enjoy it.
See it if you read Saki stories in High School and wondered why you liked them so much or you wanted to see the top pick at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest.
Don't see it if small gem shows in small theaters in interesting neighborhoods are not your thing and you don't like Odd Fellows Ice Cream.
Critic Reviews (25)
"A breath of fresh British air that has infiltrated the East Village and charmed the pants off us all...It’s unique and elevating and dark and dangerous and delicious...Katherine Rundell has written a play that operates on many intriguing levels...Director Jessica Lazar has created a physical language for the piece to match the layered text...A must-have, shaker baby, snow globe that you just want to climb inside."
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"The clever pace at which this production moves makes the evening an entertaining one...The ensemble of 'Saki' tackled each story with courage, using their bodies to transform the environment and give us a sense of the world around them...While not every tale worked as well as others, the ones that worked made us easily forget those that didn’t...Jessica Lazar’s direction reassured us that this show is not to be missed."
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"These tales are performed with precision and impeccable comedic expression by a troupe of six very hardworking actors...It is a marvelous piece of work told marvelously...It’s also delightfully silly. Silliness is really key here. What makes these stories so memorable is the full-on, high-energy delivery and the way these talented actors throw themselves headfirst into the tall tales...They are a beautiful and talented group of performers."
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"A pleasurable evening of wit, storytelling, and truth...It was very well directed and choreographed. The actors seemed extremely comfortable with the movements and each other, therefore they mastered them. There was not a detail overlooked...The entire company works together and does this piece justice. Women definitely led this play down the right path though; from the female writer to the director to the female company members that stole the show...'Saki' is highly recommended."
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"Charming and endlessly inventive staging...A nimble cast of six manipulate themselves and a small assortment of props to suggest myriad animals, starchy English characters, and settings...The ensemble transforms kaleidoscopically again and again as do each of the players...All this gleeful stagecraft is really what stays with you, more than any particular story...Playwright Rundell might have given us an early brush with mortality so we feel what’s at stake."
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"Macabre and whimsical, dark and comic at the same time, a clever satiric pen pointed at self-absorbed aristocrats of the early 1900s, Katherine Rundell’s 'Life According to Saki' is a delicious evening of theater...The production’s cast, with an appealing David Paisly as Saki, are a perfect ensemble where the actors move as if they are choreographed...The production features a bit of vaudeville, a lot of the shaggy dog mixed with ghost story, the fanciful alongside the absurd."
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"With only the most minor of costume changes and using minimal props, the cast dart in and out of identities and worlds fluidly and with total conviction...The only irritating aspect of this production is innate to its subject matter, and may not affect American viewers. Nostalgia for the British past has got a little gross in recent years...But some details have been updated for our time...This play is an experiment, but it has succeeded."
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"The well-disciplined ensemble conjure up each short story in turn, playing mischievous bachelors, domineering great-aunts and even the occasional cheetah with great aplomb. There are plenty of laughs throughout, as Saki's stories are splendidly witty…All of this is imaginatively staged with a simple but effective set…This highly entertaining production will serve as an excellent introduction to the master of the short story form."
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