The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois NYC Reviews and Tickets

"Rapp’s sentimentality bursts out of the dark, dank closet with his latest effort. Directed with a tender touch and a refreshing respect for silence by Rapp...This juxtaposition of the exotic and the banal is clearly meant to elicit strong emotions for the audience. Yet the script often feels as inhibitingly self-conscious, suggesting a class writing assignment dutifully carried out by a precocious pupil who would rather be working on something else."
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"It helps to have vivid dialogue, an unpredictable plot and a meaty theme. In 'The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois,' Adam Rapp has only information. Although he withholds it with some skill, I wish there were more going on here than mere suspense...'Purple Lights,' well acted and creepy, feels like a writer noodling over his first draft, not diving deep into a subject...Rapp directs his own script with careful detail, giving actors permission to nibble scenery."
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"Rapp's most substantial play in several years...The plot gradually emerges through a series of skillfully distributed revelations...All of the actors deliver beautifully well-worn performances...As a slice-of-life drama, 'The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois' succeeds on all fronts. It's a welcome return to form in the case of its author, whose earthbound writing has always had the essential power to shock and move without any unnecessary embellishments."
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"Adam Rapp’s 'The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois' is a 'little' play in that its ambitions are small and its dramaturgy is rather straightforward. Having almost no story, it is ultimately a character study of troubled people trying to deal with the hand they have been dealt. It does offer naturalistic acting that makes the play compelling even while it doles out its revelations in tiny doses."
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"Incredibly detailed writing and acting make this new play a must-see…A virtuoso four-person cast…To say there’s not a weak link is an understatement; every single moment in the show is compelling, organic and truthful. The detailed acting work matches, even perhaps surpasses, Rapp’s exquisite writing. This cast is devastatingly believable...It oscillates between being howlingly funny and profoundly sad. This emotional rollercoaster of a play will not disappoint."
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"A compact, affecting drama…Playwright Rapp also directs, and does so with glowing simplicity. There are no histrionics, no hearts worn on sleeves. Emotions speak for themselves, needing no embroidery. All the actors are right on point, never overplaying…Except for the tussle between Ellis and Monique, not much happens in 'Purple Lights.' A father and daughter reunite but there are no violins. The drama’s straightforwardness–both in the writing and the playing–causes it to really hit home."
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"The four actors are adept at playing the kind of troubled souls that are Rapp's stock-in-trade...In the early scenes, the playwright fakes off his audience...It's a coy dramatic mannerism that serves to delay the audience's emotional engagement. Much about 'Purple Lights' conforms to what one expects in a play by Rapp. There are misfits, ruffians, and malcontents...There's also something here that's sweet and noble and, finally, redemptive. And that's a welcome surprise.
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“With no especially deep meaning to this work, to spell out the plot reversal that takes place is to leave little left to enjoy...Mr. Apps turns in a quietly powerful performance, transitioning Ellis from ominous loner to damaged soul, changing the nature of how we worry about him. Ms. Reis, too, finds warmth and sympathy in a role that starts off cold and silent. But Ms. Heyward fails to find any depth, or much-needed humor, in Monique, making her an irritant on stage.”
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"There is intrigue, surprise, shock, confusion, and a redemptive vision of unconditional and nonjudgmental love. The audience needs to engage in every delicate moment of how Mr. Rapp’s extraordinary characters embrace their engaging conflicts to spin a tale of healing and release...This is a brilliant ensemble cast that exercises its collective and individual craft without reserve or trepidation. Adam Rapp’s direction is remarkable and brims with intensity and subtlety."
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"What may be surprising is how utterly moving this work turns out to be…The play really starts to hit the heart when Monique retreats to Ellis’ bedroom, letting the estranged pair begin to reconnect. Rapp and his two main actors make it clear just how difficult that sort of rapprochement can be…This play shines its own bright light on the universal difficulty of having an honest relationship with the people we value most."
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"To my great surprise, I found it both involving and touching…The playwright directed with assurance. The play has some slow moments. If Heyward were not such a stage presence, I would have found her character an annoying cliché. Barrett’s role is a bit underwritten. Despite its shortcomings, the play succeeds in taking us to a place that we probably never wanted to go while getting us to care about someone we would rather dismiss."
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“Playwright Adam Rapp eschews his usual shock effects and bleak visions of the future and instead goes for something softer and more intimate...Apps expertly plays Ellis as a man who is walking on eggshells...A powerful look at a man teetering on an abyss, his desperate efforts to keep his balance, and those around him struggling to understand, ‘The Purple Lights’ is both thoughtful and touching.”
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"Some will applaud Rapp for tackling the topic of mental illness in this manner. Some, like me, will simply not enjoy the idea of being entertained by it. It felt more like a required summer reading project that was meant to be discussed afterward....With only a few moving performances, 'Purple Lights' left me feeling empty, worn-out, and ready for a drink. Perhaps Rapp should focus on writing or directing. Doing both removes a creative mind from the theatrical process and the work suffers."
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"'Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois' is a tense, brilliant drama that takes you from the worst to the best...The acting and directing are extraordinary...Rapp uses brutality not just for sensationalism, but to take you to a deeper understanding. The sense that we ourselves may be at fault, that we’re too quick to think the worst of others, heightens the impact of the stunning, breathtaking ending. I felt changed."
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"This is one of those plays told in real time in which secrets are revealed at well-paced intervals, not for dramatic surprise or narrative manipulation but to provide a means for the audience to share the various perceptions of all the characters as each appalling truth is exposed...In short, an auspicious unveiling of a new text that expands the author's range and should continue to build an afterlife for itself, just as it offers the modest prospect of the same for Ellis and Catherine. "
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"As for 'The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois,' the set-up, extraordinary characters, and interesting situation end up inconsequential and unbelievable...It’s really a very small play stretched out to 85 very long minutes...Crispin Whittel’s direction is deliberate, but he called forth some lovely nuances from his game cast, who were all at the mercy of repetitive information, one-note dialogue, elliptical conversations, and extraordinarily unsympathetic characters."
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"Every fresh detail alters our feelings about the characters. We are made to balance monstrous crimes against mitigating factors, struggle between feelings of condemnation and compassion, and ultimately recognize the heroism in every character. It’s an amazing and artfully convoluted journey – the work of a playwright firmly in control of his powers...Under Cripsin Whittell’s careful direction, the actors all find the right balance with complex and contradictory roles.
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