Worse Than Tigers NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (20)
See it if you want to see one of the best written & performed plays of '18. Focus & be ready: set-up to conflict is quick; arcs & climaxes fulfilled.
Don't see it if you can't get passed absurdist aspect, or can't seriously focus, concentrate & pay attention to details. Your mind CANNOT wander in Act I. Read more
See it if There are absurdist elements but this play still has conventional appeal. Dialogue was mostly very good. Outstanding production values!
Don't see it if The ending was a bit disappointing. Not sure I loved the actor playing the husband. But the tiger was terrific.
See it if you enjoy a hard hitting cerebral drama about relationships that hits home many times over, with great sound design.
Don't see it if you are afraid of loud tiger sounds effects, darkness or the abyss of loss and grief and other human conditions.
See it if you want to see an intense, stunningly acted Albeean domestic dramedy about suppressed grief, repressed feelings & the elephant in the room.
Don't see it if you have no predilection for Absurdist drama. Read more
See it if You want to see three great actors in a piece like Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolfe on acid! Stick with it. They tie it up nicely at the end.
Don't see it if You don’t have the patience to sit through what seems like nonsense to get to the real purpose and meaning.
See it if You like theater of the absurd. Leads got A+ showcase on silver platter.
Don't see it if You hate absurd theater and watching a bad marriage play out. Incredibly inconvenient venue, especially during a heat wave. Read more
See it if you love to be kept on your toes through quirky dialogue and superb acting.
Don't see it if you are looking for fluff. This is intense while also being quite funny, at times.
See it if you are interested in a beautifully acted example of the interplay between metaphor and reality,
Don't see it if If you get impatient with surface appearances. The characters reveal themselves over the course of the play.
Critic Reviews (5)
“‘Borrows many Albeean aspects, and folds in an absurdist element that is meant to elevate the action and doesn't...Is the tiger for real? Is the cop? We won't know for a while, and what's worse, we won't care. Chrisler's dialog is flat and repetitive, and director Jaclyn Biskup hasn't figured out how to get these two off the couch enough...Chrisler calls 'Worse Than Tigers' 'a comedy (until it's not) in two acts.' For me, the 'until it's not' came pretty quickly."
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“An affecting look at one dysfunctional heterosexual marriage alternates between hyper-realism and absurdity to illustrate what happens when we distance ourselves from what we’re feeling...It’s raw and well-played...Chrisler’s script addresses how we numb ourselves to keep from feeling anger, fear, grief, and sadness. In so doing, Chrisler suggests, we cut ourselves off from much of what makes human beings human. If this sounds preachy or heavy-handed, rest assured it’s not.”
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“You'll like this play if you like the truth about complex relationships...Braeson has no fear to dig deep in order to deliver a performance that will never leave the audience dry...Sullivan shows in-depth emotion in the midst of devastating odds. Her last actions are perplexing but somewhat believable...Zach's portrayal...is near maniacal, entertaining and unpredictable. A shocking and stunning performance of an officer, seemingly bipolar...but still holding on by a thread.”
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"It’s all quite absorbing...The action starts to drag...The second act reveals further depths, but too often by telling rather than showing...Intermittently funny and unevenly powerful, 'Worse Than Tigers' is amusingly absurdist and patently symbolist, yet on another level grittily real. That’s thanks in part to sharply defined performances by the excellent cast, marshaled efficiently by director Jaclyn Biskup...Consistent drive is what the play lacks."
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“A bone-chilling, panic-attack inducing, primal, bloody, life resuscitator…and its funny. It’s a theatrical ‘Black Mirror’...It’s sneaky. It engages your intellect with complex, clever, funny dialogue revealing marital detachment, and then it pounces like a stalking animal...Biskup’s strong directorial vision is evident in the intricate, sensitive character development and the stakes that she manages to keep high throughout...A tight, well-paced, excellent show with polished performances."
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