Paris (Atlantic Theater Co) NYC Reviews and Tickets

76%

(57 Reviews)

Positive

70%

Mixed

26%

Negative

Members say

Thought-provoking, Great acting, Absorbing, Relevant, Great writing

About the Show

Actor Eboni Booth makes her playwright debut with this drama about one of the only black people living in Paris, Vermont.

From the show:

Emmie is one of the only black people living in Paris, Vermont, and she desperately needs a job. When she is hired at Berry’s, a store off the interstate selling everything from baby carrots to lawnmowers, she begins to understand a new kind of isolation. A play about invisibility, being underpaid, and how it feels to work on your feet for ten hours a day.

Member Reviews (57)

Nice performances, Thought-provoking, Hollow, Disappointing, Slow

See it if u want to see "Sweat" without the plot or action; u want a peek at the rather banal lives of workaday Americans struggling to make ends meet

Don't see it if ur looking for action, plot or bold social/political statements (or even faint ones), especially about race (which seems to be Booth's aim). Read more

Relevant, Resonant, Thought-provoking, Great writing, Great acting

See it if Booth's taut, clear-headed script. Adams' clean staging & an exceptional cast make this drama of unfulfillment & desperation a stunning gem

Don't see it if Brevity of the work works both for & against it; characters can feel simple yet chaos of their despair rings clearly bringing Odets to mind

Frustrating, Good acting,, Funny, Quirky, Thought-provoking

See it if enjoy workplace stories, plays about stilted small town life, semi-tragic character studies, characters striving to make changes

Don't see it if you don't like frustrated ambition tales or stories of denial, work place plays, characters in denial, dead-end lives in small towns

Thought-provoking, Relevant, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting

See it if Outlier workplace comedy of African-American bobbing above drowning levels in homogeneous Vermont. Don't let the sit-com banter distract.

Don't see it if Someone has to abet in all of our consumption.The injection of more darkness in that character and his usage of "your people" is superfluous Read more

Sad, real and funny too, Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Totally absorbing, excellent acting by all, great staging.

Don't see it if I would recommend this show but it is admittedly intense and depressing. But engaging, intelligent and worthwhile. Read more

Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Disappointing, Good set

See it if good premise, interesting topic; some good acting; realistic set; window into the lives of people trying hard to make ends meet & survive

Don't see it if The play has potential but not there yet; pacing needs work & book needs tightening; lacks drama to keep you focused Read more

Great play with well written characters that need a better ending

See it if You enjoy well written and interesting characters

Don't see it if You will be bothered by a play that doesn’t clean anything up at the conclusion Read more

Great cast, Insiteful, Funny sad, Intense, Quirky

See it if desire peek into slice of life humor and desperation of American less than minimum wage working class with race thrown in 4 good measure

Don't see it if don't want 2 empathize with plight of goodly % of American workers, don't see race, don't care where goods come from, always need the upbeat

Critic Reviews (10)

"Shrinking Lives at a Big Box Store in ‘Paris’: Racism is a stealth force in Eboni Booth’s astute study of the (mostly) quiet desperation of minimum-wage workers in Vermont."
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4/5 stars: "'Paris' is often funny in the style of a workplace sitcom. But Eboni Booth's remarkable new play also casts the discomfiting shadows of a low-key social and psychological thriller...Booth's deft and delicate hand cuts with a slow deliberation until it reaches the bone."
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"Scary Stuff: 'Paris' and 'The Woman in Black'"
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"'Paris' Is Where Dreams Go to Die Eboni Booth pens a new play about the drudgery of retail employment."
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"Booth clearly has talent as a writer, but Paris needs another draft to be the hard-hitting drama it has the potential to be."
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3/5 Stars. "An excellent production of Eboni Booth's insightful working class drama, set in a big box store in 1995"
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"Falling behind is the defining struggle of every character in Paris. Playwright Eboni Booth has written distinct and equally fragile circumstances for each employee…Director Knud Adams' sharpest moments come via racially charged, wordless exchanges."
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"The Paris in Eboni Booth's darkly comic play has no Eiffel Tower nor Moulin Rouge; it's a small town in Vermont (circa 1995) where a night out at the local bar drinking vodka and singing karaoke appears to be the pinnacle of entertainment."
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"The piece has all the right elements and the dialogue is funny at times, but there is absolutely nothing new here. Nothing you haven't already seen done with more pizazz and flourish. This is not a theatrical piece so much as a made-for-TV show on stage, cut to commercial."
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"'Paris' is an honest portrayal of people who need every dollar they earn. Or it's a sly commentary on how race figures into a seemingly nonracist environment. Or it's just a well-performed and engaging workplace dramedy. However it's viewed, this sharply written, superbly acted new play provides theatergoers with a jolt from winter doldrums.
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