Buried Child NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (104)
See it if you want to see a great production of a very archetypal Sam Shepard play.
Don't see it if you can't sit still for the two-hour running time or don't want to be made to think.
See it if you're a Sam Shepard, Ed Harris or Amy Madigan fan and/or like quirky plays where you have to connect a lot of dots.
Don't see it if you like light entertainment or want a good night's sleep after watching the end of the play.
See it if you love plays with an ensemble cast that melds well. Each of these actors carries their own weight and plays off each other intensely.
Don't see it if you're looking for a light, fluffy play. Serious subject matter with moments of dark humor. Shocker at the end.
See it if you want to see some really fine acting in a solid revival of one of Sam Shepard's best plays.
Don't see it if you are squeamish and/or prefer your family dramas to be conventional.
See it if Ed Harris gives an amazing performance. All but one actor was outstanding. Why a stage debut for one in professional show? Bad casting
Don't see it if You are not familiar with Sam Shepard and his style of writing.
See it if you like Ed Harris' work, Scott Ellis' directing
Don't see it if you want it all laid out
See it if you want to ed harris give the performance of a lifetime
Don't see it if you are expecting something new or silly
See it if you like great acting, staging and Sam Shepard.
Don't see it if If you are faint of heart or squeamish, very deep and brutal at times.
Critic Reviews (38)
"The New Group does Shepard proud with this deep, dark revival, led by Ed Harris who turns in a masterful and rugged performance…The choice to use inexperienced actors here is a gamble that pays off, with their nervous, awkward energy creating just the right dramatic tension...Rhythm can be everything in a play that twists and warps as much as this one. Happily, director Scott Elliott not only nails the pacing, he flaunts it."”
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"An A-list cast, under the direction of Scott Elliott, is now tasked with handling the layered, poetic text of Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize winning play that stands, rightly and unshakably, in the canon of American theater...Despite a bit of uneven casting, 'Buried Child' still remains as stirring as ever, and unique in its capability to leave an audience, in darkness and dread, sitting for two hours within the hollowed out carcass of the American Dream."
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“Director Scott Elliott has wisely compressed the three acts of ‘Buried Child’ into a seamless and undisturbed 110 minutes…The ensemble cast, except for Harris’ compelling portrayal of Dodge, seems not yet in full connection to their characters…It is Ed Harris’ Dodge that carries 'Buried Child' from beginning to end. Watching him on stage is a sheer delight...Kudos to the New Group for bringing this iconic play back home.”
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"While Harris and Madigan are deft at navigating Shepard’s nuanced style, Wolff and Farmiga struggle to find their footing. Emotions are distilled to screaming and flippant rebuttals, leaving these integral characters as mere cut-outs against an in-depth backdrop. This play won’t be everyone’s theatrical cup of tea. It’s uncomfortable subject matter and Shepard’s unforgiving delivery of it makes for a squeamish 90 minutes. But if you can take it, there’s something to unearth in ‘Buried Child’.”
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"There was something both unusually profound and inexorably sad in this depiction of a Midwest clan whose aspirations for success, never mind, normalcy have completely evaporated, and those qualities still remain staunchly at the forefront of Scott Elliott’s mostly stunning revival...We can only be grateful that The New Group has not just dug up 'Buried Child' but resurrected it so beautifully."
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"This is a play in which a very special atmosphere must prevail but, apart from Mr. Harris’s vivid performance...the production fails to resonate...Straightforward naturalism dominates, very little in Mr. Elliott’s staging...suggesting Shepard’s surrealistic underbelly. Although written in three acts, the play is performed for an intermissionless hour and 50 minutes, which only increases the feeling of drudgery. And, despite scattered laughs, the play’s rich vein of humor is barely evident."
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"Shepard’s gift for language is captured in the play’s opening scene with the pitch-perfect performances of its two lead actors…Under Scott Elliott’s otherwise flawless direction, 'Buried Child' could use an intermission after Shelly’s violation instead of being performed straight through. The other much larger problem is Farmiga’s performance...Her staccato, perky delivery is irritating when we first meet her. It’s all wrong later, when she’s meant to be seen as a civilizing force.""
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"Director Scott Elliott emphasizes the dark humor so that the grim revelations are more startling…Ed Harris’s Dodge dominates the action, a weakened lion growling with an echo of diminished power and furious at his weakness…Paul Sparks is heartbreaking as the diminished Tilden...As Vince and Shelly, Nat Wolff and Taissa Farming, young actors with mostly film and TV credits, fail to plumb the depths of Shepard’s dark vision."
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