See it if you'll take your socio-policial thought-provoking shows in the guise of a comedy about office politics
Don't see it if you want something straightforward and basic, you're in for a quirky and fast-paced ride with this one
See it if creative originality is an important element in your theatre life. Minimal staging brings out the characters, their issues and interactions
Don't see it if an intense but short show displeases you. The performance runs about an hour.
See it if you’d like to see a fresh way—beyond psychological realism—for a play to probe the psyches of 8 flawed, engaging, even charming characters.
Don't see it if for you a 60-minute play is too short to be worth a trip to the theater. Read more
See it if Public lawyers struggling w/daily life seek meaning through making lunch. Marvelously creative & charming with a message. Great characters.
Don't see it if You are not in tune with New York culture. The person next to me was from Puerto Rico. He couldn't follow the legal work & foodie humor
See it if You like office comedies but with an intelligent, surreal twistiness.
Don't see it if You don't like office comedies with intelligence and surreal twistiness. Read more
See it if Wildly innovative, Einspanier's neo-screwball comedy uses food as our last hope for meaningful societal cohesion Bizarre, poignant, funny
Don't see it if Ahmadinejad's staging devise of office chairs as balletic movement is edgy & hilarious Ensemble is superb w/Chukwu & McQuail leading the way
See it if you want a surprising, playful and fun exploration of the banality of the everyday, and the magic of food
Don't see it if you want an easy-to-follow, straightforward piece; you want to see big, complex sets or staging
See it if Like short ensemble pieces that feature witty writing and sharp, funny acting. Get a kick out of office and food cultures!
Don't see it if Need linearity and a beginning, middle, and end.
“This as a very Clubbed Thumb show: idiosyncratic, nonrealistic, gently experimental with a Downtown’s greatest hits compilation of a cast...Directed by Tara Ahmadinejad and running just about an hour, the length of a slightly luxurious lunch break, it’s a slim show, yes, but also charming and smart and kindly. For most of these characters, the focus on food is a coping mechanism, a welcome distraction.”
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“Einspanier’s excellent workplace comedy...There’s little room for a story, because Einspanier has crammed every second with marvelous character studies and syncopated conversations that reveal the topsy-turvy stakes of a life lived in service...The amount of dynamic indication in the text makes the script seem almost like a piece of music. The downtown stars...are so at ease with the play’s relentless pace and rhythms that at times they almost seem to be singing.”
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"'Lunch Bunch' is fully in keeping with Clubbed Thumb’s tradition of adventuresome fare, and is served well by the game eight-member cast of downtown theater regulars, and by Tara Ahmadinejad’s direction. She stages the characters sitting on their ergonomic chairs facing a back wall that has a single shelf, suggesting a row of sterile cubicles...It all feels almost musical."
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