“When it goofs off, it’s pretty negligible. But when it takes itself seriously, it matures into a melancholy comedy about growing up and apart...That Urban mixes memories with the cultural enthusiasms of his youth is understandable…But this ultimately distracts from the heart of the show, which is a lot less supernatural and a lot more affecting. Beneath the space invaders and the sex acts, Mr. Urban offers a poignant thesis: When we find ourselves, we lose something, too.”
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“Urban injects a supernatural element...It just feels like an 'SNL' sketch that goes on for way too long…We giggle at the absurdity of it all, but it shows us little we don't already know about the process of growing up…None of this is to say we don't appreciate Urban for taking formal risks with a fairly typical story. It's just that these risks don't amount to much when it comes to illuminating and reframing that story in a way that leads to deeper understanding of its themes.”
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“As long as the play follows this particular pathway, it paints a more-or-less realistic portrait of Adam's struggles…But the playwright sidetracks us with two other plot lines, either of which might be better suited to a play of its own…The performances are well-delineated, but the play itself is too much of a jumbled skein of conflicting plots. Keep hold of the central strand, and you've got an interesting take on a coming-of-age story…‘Nibbler’ fails to coalesce into a unified whole."
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“Intricately drawn by the playwright and insightfully interpreted by the ensemble, the characters are focused on questions of still-emerging identity…The company, under the adroit direction of Benjamin Kamine, handles the supernatural side of 'Nibbler' with a light enough touch to ensure that what's at the heart of the play isn't obscured by what's weird, creepy, and gimmicky at its surface. And what's at the heart is Adam's story and Kautz's straightforward, sympathetic performance.”
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"Ken Urban's new play 'Nibbler' opens on Christmas Eve, 2004, in Medford, New Jersey, when the overlapping dialogue and interruptions quickly evoke the early works of David Mamet. However, any comparisons with a great playwright stop there, unfortunately, at the beginning of the play."
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“It's a great story…Every scene has a relentless rhythm that is brought to life with rigor and focus by director Kamine…The whole cast gives incredible performances...They remain larger-than-life and somehow completely human at the same time…There is a lot of great design in this show, and many memorable images…The whole thing is a little campy and nostalgic, but the ideas are timeless...It's funny, it's sweet, and it's constantly surprising. I left the theater totally astonished."
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“The six characters differ in the measure of believability and their conflicts are not equally engaging. This results in plot lines that are sometimes muddled and an overall play that seems to lose its footing all too often. The sci-fi component adds little to the dramatic arc and feels unnecessary…The cast works hard…Benjamin Kamine keeps the action moving at a quick pace. The result just seems to belie all the efforts of the cast and creative team.”
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"Urban is an incredible author. His characters are raw, some dilapidated. His ability to comment on the present through the lens of the past is remarkable. There’s a sense of urgency in this world of nothingness. But it all gets lost when the end feels like an unfunny punch line...At times, 'Nibbler' played like bad sketch comedy. Other times it lived in campy horror...If you’re OK with theater that’s a little bit weird and out of the box, you might want to give 'Nibbler' a try."
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