Seven Spots on the Sun NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (45)
See it if You want to see a story about how war tears people apart and how people struggles to heal their past pain.
Don't see it if You don't like Latino theaters or you want a light entertainment. A little bit confusing at certain points, needs more editing.
See it if You want to see a moving piece which explores multiple sides of a story
Don't see it if You don't like intense pieces about war and loss
See it if you are interested in a fresh allegorical view of war and the hell it causes.
Don't see it if you prefer light, fluffy plays.
See it if You like theater that makes you uncomfortable and spotlights cultural issues. It covers atrocities during a civil war and their effects.
Don't see it if You want a happy, neat, uplifting story. Or if some narration and miming bother you. How some moments unfolded worked better than others. Read more
See it if You're interested in contemplations of personal sacrifice vs self-preservation that are buttressed by emotions but are not all that original
Don't see it if The artificially exalted speech didn't really work very well for me. Rather, it worked quite well in third person (i.e., parson's monologues Read more
See it if you're interested in new works, magical realism, allegory, want to support a smart and timely new play, love strong emotional performances.
Don't see it if you need your theatre evenly consistent (this show is uneven but when its good its great), are uncomfortable with violence/torture on stage.
See it if shows wrenching choices S. American wars impose on two families and traumatic post-war results, effective ensemble, prose of high quality
Don't see it if jumbled plot lines, overwrought declamations by characters, allegorical nature/explanatory monologues universalizes but vitiates power Read more
See it if you're interested in story lines dealing with multiple issues performed by a generally good ensemble cast. Well-staged on a nicely done set.
Don't see it if You are put off by occasional overwrought direction, and acting or by violence, war, plague and other unfortunate tragedies of life.
Critic Reviews (13)
“These couples collide in a surprising and transformative way as the complex play progresses…Mengesha’s uneven direction detracts from Mr. Zimmerman’s extended metaphor and often undermines the play’s magical realism and extensive use of tropes...Under Ms. Mengesha’s direction, these tropes often conspire to confuse rather than to elucidate meaning. Mr. Zimmerman’s play is successful in its efforts to focus on the effects of war and is worth the look.”
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"Its callowness shows in its occasional slips into melodrama...and an almost obligatory inclusion of the magical realism often associated with Latin American literature. And yet, it is still an effective piece of work...Zimmerman forces the audience to confront the differing ways that people respond to oppression under a totalitarian regime...The cast gives strong performances...Director Mengesha has a tougher time wrangling the fractured narrative but ultimately gets the job done."
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"'Seven Spots on the Sun' fearlessly faces the cruelties of war...The magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez meets the poetical symbolism of Milan Kundera in 'Seven Spots on the Sun,' and is topped with occasionally graphic and realistic scenes of passion and violence...The joined forces of Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and The Sol Project, a young and ambitious company dedicated to producing works by Latinx playwrights, lead to a truly fruitful collaboration."
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“A bleak yet moving tale…‘Seven Spots on the Sun’ is a ferocious play…Director Mengesha and the assembled cast have interpreted the work in blistering fashion…These elements come together into a play that is nothing short of harrowing…A wicked account of war and its consequences, full of raw emotion, and blessedly free of cliche and melodrama. Ideal for the socially minded theatre-goer. A feast for the heart and mind. Recommended to anyone who likes a good play.”
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"A moving anti-war polemic...Like so many plays this year, 'Seven Spots' has become eerily timely in its survey of a society divided...War is hell, if you didn’t know it, but Zimmerman has a chronicler’s gift for seeing broadly. He sustains a mostly convincing narrative, with echoes of Gabriel García Márquez, without becoming overwhelmed by its inventory of horrors. Director Weyni Mengesha, making her New York debut, deserves credit for this tightrope walk as well."
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