Notes on My Mother's Decline NYC Reviews and Tickets

80%

(11 Reviews)

Positive

73%

Mixed

27%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Slow, Absorbing, Indulgent, Resonant

About the Show

This New York story asks how we come to know one another as parents and as children. How do we care for those we love, and what does it take to live with – and without – them?

From the show:

Late at night, while his baby daughter sleeps, a son makes notes on his mother’s daily life and scenes from their complicated relationship. He is shaping a play, and a perspective. Two blocks away, his mother naps, and smokes, and reads, and drinks coffee. She is shaping her existence within encroaching confines. This New York story asks how we come to know one another as parents and as children. How do we care for those we love, and what does it take to live with – and without – them?

Member Reviews (11)

Slow, Thought-provoking, Great acting, Disappointing

See it if Good acting amongst a so-so writing effort. Last 10 minutes or so was very good. Middle needs work.

Don't see it if If u want a consistent play writing effort. Lighting here needs work.

Impeccably constructed, Brilliantly staged, Beautifully played, Spare, Deeply affecting

See it if you’d like to see a powerful evocation of a protracted terminal situation & the stress it puts both on the infirm & on a family caregiver.

Don't see it if graphic details about bodily infirmity might disturb you. Read more

Resonant, Slow, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Mother and son intersecting dual "sections" with the characters crisscrossing personalities and also the caretaking roles. With projections.

Don't see it if Both universal and specific: Everyone must confront parental mortality, but these reenactments seem more descriptive personal diary entries. Read more

Monotonous, Remote, Pretentious, Disappointing, Indulgent

See it if you would enjoy the juxtaposition of monotone narration/pretentious asides by one character with a simplistic characterization of the other.

Don't see it if you don’t want to lose 70 minutes. Or 50 - the last 20 minutes had the makings of an affecting story, but the first 50 need a lot of work.

Great writing, Resonant, Absorbing

See it if You enjoy minimalist shows about heavy topics that are handled with grace.

Don't see it if You don't like shows that focus on the messier sides of illness and aging. Read more

100

Intelligent, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if you like poetry - this show is as rare as a great poem.

Don't see it if you need a traditional play Read more

Slow, Indulgent, Great acting, Cliched, Ambitious

See it if you are content with one excellent performance in an otherwise banal play.

Don't see it if you bore easily and object to bright lights shining in your face.

100

Great staging, Great singing, Great acting, Delightful, Clever

See it if You like to see beautiful men on stage

Don't see it if If you don’t want nudity stay home

Critic Reviews (5)

"A Son Mourns in ‘Notes on My Mother’s Decline’: Intimate but distant by design, Andy Bragen’s play takes us on a journey many are likely to face with an aging parent."
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"Echoes Grief at Fourth Street Theatre"
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"'Notes on My Mother's Decline' makes a persuasive argument that, ultimately, one's parents become one's children, and not very obedient ones at that."
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"Knud Adams directs this one-set show which at times has moments of humor, but overall is a slow-moving and usually depressing narrative. Ari Fliakos, who plays the son, gives a reserved performance. Too often I thought of the somber tones of 'The Twilight Zone's' Rod Serling."
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"A Theasy Best Bet…This is a play that slowly soaks you up with its sincerity, bringing you to a raw and vulnerable place ever so imperceptibly…The staging of the piece by the ingenious director Knud Adams is as precise and elegant as the language."
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