The Itch

See it if You like good acting

Don't see it if If you have no patience

See it if See something edgy

Don't see it if Want to see a musical

See it if you like shows about personal struggles and family discord. That have a dark sense of humor.

Don't see it if you like shows that are an escape from everyday life. Or prefer period pieces that are more whimsical.

See it if you enjoy watching the tension in dysfunctional families presented in a new way with technology sometimes enhancing, sometimes distracting.

Don't see it if you cannot tolerate loud disruptions, multiple media presentations, choking smoke from herbal cigarettes and interrupting mechanical sounds.

See it if You're a fan of new plays, exploration of drug abuse and sex in family dynamic, multimedia

Don't see it if Drug abuse and adoption themes are upsetting or uninteresting. Incongruent and unexplained plot points are a bother.

Also Kudos to Gore & Alexandra (also playwright) portraying twins who both have extreme circumstances to face. Thought provoking meld of mental health & drug addiction in siblings but that was unfortunately bogged down by a sometimes confusing & incongruous narrative, slow pacing and uneven acting from the rest of the cast.... Read more Read less

See it if you like to view shows in an intimate space. (Great sight lines) Also, some credit must be given for effort.

Don't see it if You expect a fun musical comedy. I always wonder re:the same person being the writer and the actor in the same play. Yes the effort is there

See it if You want to see a show that is confusing and all over the place. You want to see a play about siblings and their struggles.

Don't see it if You want to see a play that is easy to follow.

Also The performers did their best with what they were working with.

See it if you can tolerate the "poor little rich boy" narrative, you like inventive use of video, you are looking for a short, new play

Don't see it if you want something fully polished, you need characters with clear motivation, you are upset by notions of incest

See it if you appreciate challenging, creative, disturbing, dark, real drama of dysfunctional family, raw emotion, twins' sibling devotion and empathy

Don't see it if you prefer light comedy, musicals, clear plot, conflict resolution, and theme with all characters, not only Mills, live onstage. I was lost.

See it if I can't think of a reason and feel bad for the actors who put in their time and energy to make this work.... but it didn't.

Don't see it if that's what I would suggest.

See it if the acting was good

Don't see it if No intermission for a reason. No redeeming qualities to see this.

See it if You like the idea of thanklessly puzzling over the mental problems of some rather uninteresting somewhat dislikable people.

Don't see it if You'd prefer being entertained or edified in some way, rather than puzzled and annoyed.

See it if you want to see some good acting by the leads

Don't see it if poor use of multimedia disturbs you. The fear of an author to directly confront their themes is problematic.

Also If you're an author and you want to deal with incest and pedophilia then deal with it. Good productions of Tommy, Usher and the Secret Garden all have to the shows' benefit. Don't shy from an unpleasant subject.... Read more Read less

See it if No reason to see it at all

Don't see it if It was long and drawn out, confusing , i wanted to walk out but i was with a friend and there were so few people there. What a let down.

See it if You have too much time to spare.

Don't see it if You enjoy good theater.

See it if Like bad writing with unlikeable characters and an extremely confusing plot filled with video, bad music and tasteless incest tendencies.

Don't see it if you seek a plot with memorable moments.

See it if with all due respect for the cast who try to bring depth to this intended (?) profound drama, it lacks any supportive words by me.

Don't see it if This performance just lacks any of the tenets of theater we have come to admire. Sorry I don't like to be negative, it is what it is.

See it if I can't think of anyone who would want to see this play. It really made no sense at all. Not sure what the message was

Don't see it if You value your time. This was one of the worst plays I ever saw. No intermission so it was impossible to leave til the bitter end!

Also I believe the actors did their best considering what they had to work with. The main role was played by a very pregnant actress. Not sure whether this was part of the story line or not. The lesbian connection also made no sense. Just a terrible production which should be avoided!... Read more Read less

See it if The Itch is a interesting play that moves between realism and the theatre of the absurd - the staging of the Thanks Giving dinner was clever

Don't see it if You don't like slow paced drama which uses a number of multi-media elements.

Also The Itch has potential - for me is 20 minutes to long. The two leads are good. The thanks giving dinner is creatively staged. The parents being shown on screens (clever) - other multi-media elements were not justified.

The play is about a brother and sister - the sister is pregnant - trying to sell her egg's to a clinic to pay for the rehab for her brother. The first question I asked was - what is she selling - maybe selling surrogate motherhood might be more powerful.

The brother is a musician and poet - willing to put down his sisters song writing attempts at a moment. The drama is about can the sister get him into rehab before he gets the itch to disappear into drunken poetic self pity.

This self-pity is well presented by his arrival at his parents dinner. This dramatic core has to compete with - the grandmother subplot, the staffer from the clinic subplot - the smell subplot - this blocks the drama and slows the pace - I thought of early Sam Sheppard or Ed Albee.... Read more Read less

See it if you appreciate any effort to understand the effects of addiction on a family.

Don't see it if you feel that even when there are some very good ideas and intentions, a show that is ultimately incomprehensible is not worth the time.

Also The female lead seems to be pregnant but it was never made clear whether the character she portrays is actually supposed to be pregnant. The main plot device is that her character wants to donate her eggs. This is something a woman can not do when pregnant so the plot made no sense. If the unmentioned pregnancy is a plot device, it didn't work. If not, using a pregnant actor just distracted from anything the play had to offer. Way too confusing.... Read more Read less

See it if You like to see very disfunctional families.

Don't see it if You want to be entertained and see something that is uplifting.

See it if You. Are in the West Village and all other shows or films are sold out and you told friends you were going to catch a typical village show !

Don't see it if You can't tolerate a lot of herbal cigarette smoke blown at you. You have your heart set on seeing some worthwhile off off Broadway theatre.

See it if you like slow boring plays that go nowhere with characters you care nothing about.

Don't see it if you want to be entertained or engrossed or just stay awake.

See it if for a far-fetched and perplexing abstract work

Don't see it if disconnection between characters devoid of feelings is too unrealistic

See it if I cannot think of a reason it's AWFUL.

Don't see it if You cherish you sanity