Incognito NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (185)
See it if you love incredible acting, thought-provoking theater that is accessible and engaging.
Don't see it if you are close minded to new ways of approaching stories, or are looking for a traditionally linear story line.
See it if you love thoughtful, engaging theatre that doesn't dumb itself down for you
Don't see it if you can't keep track of multiple, nonlinear storylines; lack of intricate set is bothersome to you
See it if you're ready to piece the puzzle of a masterful show together, you want incredible actors taking on the challenge of this show
Don't see it if you want a light and simple piece of theatre, you get confused easily by cross-cutting and actors playing multiple roles
See it if You want insight about what gives humans their identity. You enjoy interlocking storylines. You like to think a lot about what you saw.
Don't see it if You prefer easier material. Tip: if you go to a Saturday matinee there is a talkback afterwards.
See it if You are into powerful, taut drama that breaks traditional narrative rules by requiring an effort on the audiences part.
Don't see it if You go to the theatre to sit back and relax.
See it if you want to laugh and cry and see some masterful acting in a starkly staged riveting play.
Don't see it if you don't like shows where actors play more than one character and it's not a linear story.
See it if you don't mind a playwright intentionally confusing you. Four great actors doing great work under a great director.
Don't see it if you have to go alone - you'll want to discuss it over drinks afterward!!!
See it if You enjoy interlocking stories & fast paced changing of roles
Don't see it if You want traditional narrative Read more
Critic Reviews (31)
"A lively, self-examining drama of ideas…The script’s diverse figures are embodied by an exceptionally supple ensemble of four…Remarkable for the clarity with which it graphs its various forms of confusion and delusion...'Incognito' doesn’t achieve the raw emotional force of 'Constellations.' But as befits a work about the vagaries of memory, Mr. Payne’s multilayered works remains in your mind, challenging our most fundamental notions of autonomous selfhood."
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"Doug Hughes directs a solid cast (Cox is especially brilliant as the sweetly tragic Maison) in what is an impressive acting workout—if not completely revelatory drama. For all the engaging tidbits of information, the notion that personality, love or even genius are not hard-wired into the brain so much as accidents of chemistry and sociology probably won’t blow anyone’s mind."
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"Nick Payne’s brainy but murky mind game of a play is probably more fun to be in than watch...The actors give colorful performances as they switch instantly from one character to another. But like the round bare stage, the play goes in circles. As a husband with recall gone haywire, a sweet Charlie Cox makes the show hit the heart and not just the head."
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"Director Doug Hughes and movement director Peter Pucci run themselves ragged moving 20 lifeless characters (played by four hard-working actors). But for all that work, Payne’s treatment of his philosophical subject remains leaden in theatrical form...Whatever emotion might be squeezed out of this dry piece can be found in the bittersweet scenes in which Henry, who is in no way in touch with reality, manages to retain the memory of his love for his wife."
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"It's an extremely challenging assignment that the ensemble cast executes with admirable skill and precision...'Incognito' exerts a certain fascination, but it's also deeply frustrating...Despite its brevity, the play feels bloated, padded with such extraneous scenes...Payne tends to concentrate on the cerebral, with the result that watching 'Incognito' feels like working on a particularly difficult crossword puzzle. It's satisfying up to a point, but we're rarely emotionally engaged."
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"'Incognito' feels disjointed. Without the help of costumes, makeup, props, or different sets, it can be hard to follow how all of these lives intersect. But plot holes aside, the acting is superb. The actors have nothing to play off of but each other, and with what feels like a millisecond between scenes, they transform completely...Within a blink, Cox goes from a young American sidekick-type to a feeble, elderly man, and is wholly convincing as both. 'Incognito' is an actor’s dream."
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"'Incognito' confirms that Payne is in a class of his own as a contemporary writer…’Incognito’ never once feels like a stolid post-grad lecture on neuroscience. Through and through, it is a compelling, humane story, featuring absorbing characters with whom we feel a kinship...While there are points where Hughes' staging tends to lag, his work impresses here for its decision to let the audience conjure the world of the play ourselves."
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"Nick Payne's ambitious, but somewhat muddy new play, admirably performed by a hard-working quartet of actors…Directed by Doug Hughes, the actors divide 20 roles in short interwoven scenes that snap directly into each other, frequently making transitions from story to story unclear…While 'Incognito' may very well provide some fascinating observations about the workings of the brain, some clearer storytelling is required to get them across."
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