Man From Nebraska NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (189)
See it if One man's terrifying crisis of faith--or really, crisis of life, explored through small, human moments. Bravura performance by Reed Birney.
Don't see it if You like plays with a lot of plot and high drama. Much of this story is left unsaid--not that it's boring, but it's subtle and realistic
See it if you've ever doubted or regretted any of your life choices on a personal or religious level. Or see a deep play about the human condition.
Don't see it if you aren't ready to think--and feel--without spoon feeding. Read more
See it if If you like serious drama that looks at loss of faith and the impact on a family
Don't see it if Looking for light entertainment
See it if you love plays about midle age crisis and lost of faith.
Don't see it if you are looking for a light, fun and simple entertainment.
See it if You are patient and can stick with a story as it evolves. The beginning is slow - but for a reason.....
Don't see it if You don't want to be confronted with uncomfortable issues/moments
See it if you know anyone who has gone through a midlife crisis or crisis of faith. This play addresses these issues with an interesting perspective.
Don't see it if you prefer fast paced or lighthearted drama and don't want to think about personal conflicts.
See it if You like well-written & well-acted plays and want to see what Tracy Letts can do beyond August: Osage County. Hang in beyond Act I, really.
Don't see it if Inventive staging annoys you or you're completely against any discussion of religion.
See it if you're interested in the examined life. Tracy Letts great play is about having the courage to change a life path and establish a new one.
Don't see it if if you prefer to be entertained, rather than think about the meaning of your ife
Critic Reviews (33)
"Anchoring the familiar tale is a focused performance by Birney who has clearly mastered the art of portraying buttoned-up middle-class baby boomers roiled by inner torment. O’Toole similarly manages to offset her character’s dullness with flashes of brittle dignity while Mensah provides an archly vivacious counterpoint throughout the second half. But for all its humanity and wit, Letts’s play ends up feeling rather schematic under David Cromer’s polished direction."
Read more
"Under David Cromer’s thoughtful direction each of the many scenes in the play becomes one more step in Ken’s journey toward heaven or hell...If Letts’ play moves us despite the well-worn path it travels, that’s because it has three major assets: an excellent cast headed by the incomparable Birney, Cromer’s skillful direction backed by a terrific creative team, and the playwright’s ability to create totally believable and sympathetic characters who never amaze but always surprise us."
Read more
"Director David Cromer has a way of elevating the ordinary. And actor Reed Birney brings complexity to the common man...There is a startling freshness here. None of the characters are stereotypes...There is no sentimentality, no overwrought confessions or dramatic angst. Just the bite of true emotion and the message that no matter how lost someone is, there is always someone waiting to find them."
Read more
"This show is brooding, slow, vacuous, empty, hopeless, and depressing. This is not all necessarily bad…Part blistering critique of religion and America, part human condition, Mr. Letts shows us what happens when a man questions long-held beliefs, as provincial and narrow as they might seem…Frankly, Mr. Letts' play doesn't really answer the question; it merely scratches the surface and explores the topic. If you are looking for definitive answers you won't find them here.”
Read more
"Letts' powerfully intriguing premise, the despair of which Birney embodies so movingly, gets vitiated as the action proceeds...He makes Ken’s crisis impressively stark, and his subsequent wanderings in search of meaning amusingly entertaining, but the two never add up. Viewed as a total picture, 'Man from Nebraska' turns out to be riddled with the wrong kind of questions-not the big ones a great playwright asks us, but the niggling little ones that we want to ask the playwright."
Read more
"Birney gives a layered exploration of the complexities of being a regular guy who's just not sure what happened to his life, how he got here...O'Toole gives a quiet, understated performance as the tossed-aside wife. Though not fully drawn on the page, O'Toole shows that Nancy is just as complicated as Ken...With no offense meant to Letts (or Birney), in this day and age, the more interesting story might be the one about the woman from Nebraska."
Read more
"Much of the dialog is very simple, rarely revealing, and filled with very long pauses. It almost feels like a Pinter play without the biting double meanings in the characters’ speech...The cast is quite good, led by the reliable Reed Birney...Director David Cromer creates a dark atmosphere that seems appropriate to Letts’ tone and episodic style. But the strong performances and the evocative direction only leave the audience wondering what was the point of the play they had just experienced."
Read more
“‘Man From Nebraska’ is not Tracy Letts' most thought-provoking or exciting play, and there have been better dramas about confused protagonists trying to figure things out for themselves. But it may particularly speak to anyone who comes from a background where certainty and conformity were the rule, and self-reflection and self-discovery were discouraged. And for those who didn't, it may inspire some compassion, understanding, and hope.”
Read more