My Onliness NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (7)
See it if you're in the mood for 80 mins of chaotic fun and a cast that's clearly enjoying themselves. Accurately marketed as a "fable/cabaret/circus"
Don't see it if you prefer polished pieces that "make you think" and/or are uncomfortable with a participatory theater experience. Read more
See it if into colorful, semi-coherent mayhem with songs and surprises.
Don't see it if well - bring your open mind; there will be opportunities to join in if you wish. Read more
See it if you like great singing, in many styles with good accompaniment, in a fun, wildly ranging story, interpreted in ASL by actors, in short acts.
Don't see it if you want a traditional play or musical. There is a story here, but it is the non-stop craziness that propels this event. Read more
See it if you want an over-the-top jester show with great music, movement, physical comedy and performances.
Don't see it if you need coherent or complex plot. Content warning for... voodoo doll style sexual assault? That the recipient sings about?
See it if Not a polished show but entertaining never the less.
Don't see it if If you need a finished work.
See it if The story of the mad king ("My Onliness") and his crazy treatment of his subjects (including the playwright and the stage manager)!
Don't see it if If you're looking for a linear, traditional plot line, this won't work! Read more
See it if You like weird, off-beat performances. They threw gold coins and popcorn at us, and served shots of brandy!
Don't see it if You prefer a standard, easy-to-follow play.
Critic Reviews (6)
"'My Onliness' is the kind of show that in its muchness may leave you slightly mystified."
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"It takes careful planning to pull off such madness and not have it devolve into masturbatory romper room nonsense, and Irizarry has succeeded with a production that is by no means polished, but is unfailingly entertaining."
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"My Onliness," Robert Lyons’ latest stage work, is a musical homage to Polish avant-garde playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (active 1918-1934) but who resurfaced during the 1960’s when his works began to be published and translated. Directed by Daniel Irizarry who also plays the leading role as the Mad King, "My Onliness" with lyrics by Lyons and original music by Kamala Sankaram, resembles the anarchic East Village plays and happenings of the 1960’s. It is part of a through line from Alfred Jarry’s "Ubu Roi" (1896) to Eugene Ionesco’s "Exit the King" (1962). A political fable for adults, "My Onliness" is performed as a cabaret and circus entertainment with exaggerated costumes, outrageous stage business, and audience participation. While the often obscure text is for the adventurous, it does touch on many hot current issues.
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"While I'm still parsing its intended meaning (if any), all I know for certain about this thoroughly absurd show is that I thoroughly enjoyed it."
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“My Onliness” is billed as “a fable/cabaret/circus entertainment about a mad king’s desperate attempt to impress a mysterious petitioner” – a description that doesn’t completely capture the sensory assault and somersaults by the ceaselessly energetic cast, or the aggressive (albeit voluntary) audience participation, or the sheer busy-ness of this boisterous anarchic diversion. If (to put it constructively) you need to be in the right mood to find the fun in all of the show’s loud, chaotic 80 minutes, “My Onliness” does display some real inventiveness, and even hints at a seriousness of purpose.
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"Judging from all of the madness in 'My Onliness', it’s clear that the artists of One-Eighth Theater are keeping the tradition of colorful experimentation alive in New York’s downtown theater scene."
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