Buried Child
Closed 1h 50m
Buried Child
75

Buried Child NYC Reviews and Tickets

75%
(104 Ratings)
Positive
73%
Mixed
22%
Negative
5%
Members say
Great acting, Intense, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Slow

About the Show

The New Group presents Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about an American family struggling to overcome the many obstacles in the way of the American Dream. Starring Ed Harris.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (104)

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171 Reviews | 162 Followers
79
Absorbing, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Quirky, Intense

See it if Sam Shepard at his best. A damn good play being given a strong production.

Don't see it if Can't think of a reason a theater lover would not want to see this production.

hw
288 Reviews | 54 Followers
79
Great acting, Ambitious, Great writing, Intense, Funny

See it if to experience one of the most iconic american plays ever written. Harris is just terrific, but there are some weak cast members.

Don't see it if you want to avoid an intense family drama, or if you know you don't like Shepard: this is echt-Shepard. It is very funny - but very bitter.

666 Reviews | 126 Followers
78
Riveting, Profound

See it if You like Sam Sheppard. The acting is good and the story is messed up which I like.

Don't see it if you don't like Sam S. You either like his stuff or you don't

200 Reviews | 24 Followers
76
Great acting, Profound, Dated, Thought-provoking, Riveting

See it if Typical Sam Shepherd drama. Great acting .

Don't see it if Hate family drama and Sam Shepherd.

93 Reviews | 16 Followers
76
Confusing, Edgy, Great writing, Slow, Profound

See it if you're a fan of shows that really make you think. The show puts the weight on the audience--you have to figure it out yourself

Don't see it if you need a show that clearly tells you what's happening

175 Reviews | 20 Followers
75
Great acting, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Slow

See it if you endured Bruce Willis in Misery - Ed Harris gives a master class here in how to act well when your character is mostly unable to move.

Don't see it if you lack patience...the pace is slow.

58 Reviews | 36 Followers
75
Funny, Great acting, Ambitious, Quirky, Dated

See it if You admire Shepherd's absurdist side. This one of his more accessable plays, at times appallingly funny.Maybe not as shocking as it was once

Don't see it if Albee's dead or missing children have exhausted this particular trope for you. If you don't admire Ed Harris's prodigious talent

52 Reviews | 30 Followers
75
Funny

See it if you love Ed Harris...he is superb. Also, if you are sometimes underwelmed by overly clever set design. Great old fashioned set that serves

Don't see it if sitting for almost 2 hrs without an intermission is painful

Critic Reviews (38)

Newsday
February 17th, 2016

"Despite the insightful, ever-challenging presence of Ed Harris and Amy Madigan as the bedridden drunken Dodge and his pious, hypocritical wife, Halie, director Scott Elliott’s revival has a matter-of-factness that undercuts both the mythic and Gothic delights of the dark tragicomedy…Shepard says he wanted the play 'to destroy the idea of the American family drama.' 'Buried Child' still has the power to do that, but it needs a sharper, heavier mallet than it gets here."
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Blog Critics
March 1st, 2016

"This is a magnificent production, prodigiously acted by the ensemble cast and brilliantly conceived, staged, and designed by Scott Elliot and his team. The production throbs with tension. The undercurrents vibrate throughout. Above all the character portrayals balance evenly to create a living portrait of the poignancy of human families…Elliot has guided this cast into taut perfection…'Buried Child' is beyond memorable. It is is one for the ages."
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The Huffington Post
February 19th, 2016

“Imagination is mostly lacking in a revival by the New Group and directed by Scott Elliott that feels moored to the ground…You never really care. Wolff and Farmiga are particularly adrift…The miracle is that throughout it all, Harris is magnetic. I'll need to wait for another production to get a better sense of the potential of ‘Buried Child’. But for Harris, no further proof is needed.”
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Off Off Online
February 20th, 2016

"It's been 20 years since the Broadway revival of 'Buried Child,' and the production by The New Group suggests that Sam Shepard’s 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning play has lost some luster...Director Scott Elliott brings out the humor, although the two younger cast members pale in gravitas and skill compared with the superb veterans. Elliott also creates a terrific sense of febrile menace and poisoned trust...But 'Buried Child,' for all the vigor of its performances, feels just a bit stale."
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NorthJersey.com
February 18th, 2016

"Sam Shepard's 'Buried Child' can be played for humor or for horror – or, best option of all, for both. Unfortunately, the soggy revival by the New Group that opened Wednesday night doesn't have enough of either quality to make for a very satisfying evening...When the big revelation of the family secret comes at the end, it's intellectually shocking but dramatically inert. With ineffective buildup, there's no payoff."
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Financial Times (UK)
February 18th, 2016

"Shepard’s achievement is to have invested realist American dramaturgy with the spirit of late-European modernism...The resulting work is at once timeless and grounded in its 1970s setting. Under Scott Elliott’s unobtrusive yet assured direction the performances are all first-class...The final scenes sacrifice some of the first two acts’ enigmatic power, but the play concludes with an image as harrowingly iconic as Sissy Spacek’s blood-spattered Carrie."
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Blog Critics
February 18th, 2016

"The play yields answers to its real mysteries reluctantly if at all...But a fine cast gingerly directed by Scott Elliott and led by Ed Harris and Amy Madigan keeps the smoky pot stirred, playing the weird, funny, tragic story for all it’s worth. The new Off-Broadway revival by The New Group would be worth seeing purely for Ed Harris’s vinegary central performance."
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N
March 10th, 2016

"Shepard’s weird mix of absurdity and dysfunction in this family drama is both oppressive and unnecessarily distasteful. And director Scott Elliot’s decision to eliminate an intermission hardly made the show more bearable...Harris gives Dodge a strange humor that borders on the likable...None of the other actors measure up...As the shock value fades the flaws in the plot and characterizations seem to grow. After the dust settles on this 'Buried Child,' one must ask, who cares?"
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