The Healing NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (45)
See it if You like shows about often unexplored topics, with people who you don't usually see on stage
Don't see it if You don't like disability or the subject of suicide or religion
See it if you want to see strong acting in an original & thought-provoking play. It's heavier then the average show with an engaging plot.
Don't see it if you don't want to roll your eyes, a lot. There's one weak actor & a lot of heavy-handed religious rants.
See it if you're interested in a new, awesome play by Sam Hunter.
Don't see it if it will bother you that there are some uneven acting performances (there are some great ones too).
See it if you're open to seeing on stage actors with talent and commitment to their craft who happen to be living with physical challenges
Don't see it if you're looking for something light or straight-forward or are uncomfortable around heavy topics (religion, mental illness)
See it if You value characters discussing issues which are at the core of their lives. These are flawed characters, as all of us are.
Don't see it if You mind that these people are a bit too cardboard and inflexible (though some real people are too). Not Hunter's best work, but good stuff.
See it if You want to see a touching drama filled with emotion & sometimes sense of humor. Good cast for the most part.
Don't see it if If you are the religious type who gets easily offended, people w disabilities make you uncomfortable or if topic of death bothers you.
See it if like shows about old friends learning about their past. Disabilities melt away and their stories take center stage.
Don't see it if you want a lighthearted, smiley play.
See it if Well acted relatable stories. Powerful treatment of people with disabilities and religious (fundamentalist) themes.
Don't see it if you can't handle actors with real disabilities. Smallish production.
Critic Reviews (19)
"The cast is uniformly superb…The play itself has moments of wit and pathos, but never really goes anywhere. It’s an interesting set-up but it unfolds fairly predictably and without any twists, surprises or even much of a dramatic climax…But the acting and direction go a very long way in overcoming these faults and make 'The Healing' an often fascinating glimpse into the spiritual lives of people who were given few choices in life except how to escape."
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"Hunter deftly peels back the layers of sorrow in these characters...He creates complete characters the audience easily connects to, even if a few moments in the play come across as overly constructed. Covering momentous subject matters like faith, friendship, loneliness, and legacy, Hunter can only dabble a little in each, with faith looming largest. But Hunter’s dabbling is better than most playwrights’ deepest dives."
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“Samuel D. Hunter’s sensitive but unsentimental and thinly plotted new play...Regardless of the actors’ particular physical problems, there’s nothing wrong with their acting, each character being completely real and in the moment...Hunter has helped greatly by showing them as fully dimensional, warts and all. Director Stella Powell-Jones’s pause-filled, 90-minute, intermissionless production tends toward occasional sluggishness, however, and only a few scenes have conventional dramatic punch.”
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“What Hunter has done is written a genuine and authentic drama about real people with real emotions. And that makes 'The Healing' infinitely more heartbreaking...From top to bottom, this cast was triumphant...Powell-Jones' impeccable guidance brought 'The Healing' to great heights. With fluid direction, this piece moved yet felt lived in. Honesty was the key to Powell-Jones’ success...An important play that needs attention."
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"An affecting meditation on faith, friendship and forgiveness…Hunter and director Stella Powell-Jones sift through the emotional damage with great sensitivity. The cast, composed of both abled-bodied and disabled actors is uniformly excellent. But Shannon DeVido is a standout…There's a not-exactly surprise twist that comes toward the end of the show's 90 minutes but the survivors' struggle to get there is still moving—and worth seeing."
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"The cast of talented actors directed by Stella Powell-Jones has an incredible chemistry. Every one of them deserves praise, but I especially want to pay tribute to Shannon DeVido...'The Healing' is a very smart and subtle piece of theater. It grabs you quickly with its tasty cynical humor and holds you tight...I highly recommend seeing 'The Healing,' as it is a remarkable show."
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"Hunter's play contemplates the relationships between our physical and spiritual selves, and the damage that extremist thinking can perpetuate. Unfortunately the heavy emotions remain, steady and unchanging, offering little chance for real revelation to characters or audience alike…There's plenty of fodder for contemplation here, but Hunter seems tentative about shaping it into drama."
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“Hunter does an admirable job of populating his world with likable, true-to-life characters, but he’d get more present-tense energy out of them if he’d let them set the blame game aside and try to harder to reach each other. Similarly, director Stella Powell-Jones keeps the actors emotionally grounded, but could stand to prune some of the awkward pauses and move the action forward with greater surety. Despite its stagnant beats, though, ‘The Healing’ does spark an intriguing debate.”
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