The Judas Kiss NYC Reviews and Tickets

"The elegantly faded and crumbled interior of BAM's Harvey Theatre is a most appropriate venue…As written, and particularly as performed by a captivating Rupert Everett, the central character becomes rather elegantly faded and crumbled himself…While Everett masterfully delivers the sardonic Wilde wit that Hare sprinkles into the proceedings, there's a tender wistfulness about him in director Neil Armfield's melancholy production."
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"A vast improvement over the 1998 Broadway engagement, if only because Rupert Everett is so much better than Liam Neeson as Wilde...But two full acts of dramatic stasis prove to be too much; Wilde's passivity in the face of such adversity might provide rich material for drama, but Hare seems only interested in sanctifying it…It's a strange experience to have one of English literature's great wits treated with so much reverence and so little wit."
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"The problem with the play--which was also true in its Broadway production in 1998 which starred Liam Neeson (who was not terribly convincing)--is that it is extremely static. Also we know how things turned out so there is no suspense as to the outcome."
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“‘The Judas Kiss’ is not a great play, not even one of Hare's best. But now it can be considered a very good play, and one well worth seeing. Much of the credit must go to Everett who embodies Wilde in the thoroughly satisfying and effective way we wish every performance could….Armfield, the director, must share in that credit. There is unquestionably much to ponder here, but it is no longer ponderous.”
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"Few actors could be better suited to play Wilde than Everett, who has devoted himself to the role in both look and temperament...The banter between Wilde and Bosie is lost in the latter’s one-dimensional delivery, which was shouty and unmeasured. Rather than a battle of wits, the dialog between the two men is one-sided...Hare’s writing is terrific here and throughout, and so evocative of Wilde. But director Neil Armfield doesn’t let the words penetrate and so much of the play is lost."
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“It’s a wonderfully performed and written piece, even if it was just this one act, but act two takes us deeper into the dark and complicated relationship of Bosie and Wilde...Everett inhabits the part as if it were tailor-made for him...Directed impeccably by Neil Armfield, with the help of Hare’s beautiful text...The final kiss goodbye leaves us all watching and waiting for a witty and sly comment from Wilde, and what we get is something more powerful: a still and silent all-knowing stare.”
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"Do people – and plays – deserve a second chance? These thoughts ran rapidly through my mind while watching Armfield’s often stunning production of David Hare’s 'The Judas Kiss'…Everett captures Wilde’s wit, pride, self-delusion and self-destruction magnificently, lending both heft and pathos to Hare’s work…His actions place him as somewhere between a martyr and a fool, and 'The Judas Kiss' somewhere between Greek tragedy and tragicomedy."
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"Some of the problems that plagued the initial run are still present. Wilde’s passivity has a way of dulling dramatic tension...But there’s pleasure and substance to be found here, too. Many of the quips sound a lot like Wilde — in part, because many are from Wilde. Others don’t, yet they’re amusing all the same. And for all Wilde’s inactivity, the play does ultimately present his downfall as a kind of tragic inevitability."
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