Quietly
Closed 1h 15m
Quietly
81

Quietly NYC Reviews and Tickets

81%
(56 Ratings)
Positive
89%
Mixed
9%
Negative
2%
Members say
Absorbing, Great acting, Intense, Thought-provoking, Relevant

About the Show

Irish Repertory Theatre presents Owen McCafferty's new drama about what occurred in a particular bar in 1974, and what happened in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the '90s. Part of Origin’s 1st Irish Festival.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (56)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
51 Reviews | 9 Followers
100
Great acting, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Intense

See it if You like powerful stories and acting.

Don't see it if You don't want a continually intensive performance.

89 Reviews | 21 Followers
95
Thought-provoking, Intense, Great acting, Profound, Relevant

See it if You enjoy moving plays that make you think.

Don't see it if You have problems understanding Irish accents and dislike talk of tragedy and violence.

367 Reviews | 40 Followers
91
Absorbing, Great acting, Relevant, Riveting, Intense

See it if you enjoy theater that is challenging, thought-provoking and engaging. Irish rep has moved home and it is one of the best off Broadway venue

Don't see it if you want light, funny, easy entertainment.

168 Reviews | 24 Followers
91
Absorbing, Great acting, Intelligent, Intense

See it if You like intimate drama with a real-life feel.

Don't see it if You are looking for charming Irish laughter.

536 Reviews | 279 Followers
90
Absorbing, Taut, Tense, Great ensemble work, Exquisite direction

See it if you are interested in contemporary Irish drama which reflects the troubled history of this country. Great acting. Great staging and design.

Don't see it if you are not interested in Irish drama. Also, if you do not like monologues, which keep popping up. This is intense theatre!

don
506 Reviews | 1009 Followers
90
Absorbing, Great acting, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Resonant

See it if love great acting ..are a concerned person.. and can try to understand the hate problems of the world. The play is 75 minutes (one act).

Don't see it if you want a song and dance show. Be prepared to solve the 12 minute language adjustment rule.

112 Reviews | 22 Followers
90
Absorbing, Great acting, Intense, Relevant, Thought-provoking

See it if you like intense topical drama, driven by character. great writing and acting.

Don't see it if you want something light and silly.

499 Reviews | 77 Followers
89
Absorbing, Relevant, Thought-provoking, Riveting, Intense

See it if You hate violence and want a more nuanced exploration of how it comes about and its aftermath.

Don't see it if You prefer fun entertainment and have problems understanding thick accents.

Critic Reviews (32)

The New York Times
July 28th, 2016

“It is difficult to imagine a piece of theater more perfectly suited to our jittery, antagonistic American moment than ‘Quietly,’ Owen McCafferty’s rage-filled, wounded, mournful play about terrorism, civil war and the damage that remains after the hatred cools. Directed by Jimmy Fay, this delicately acted production arrives on the stage like Dickens’s ghost of Jacob Marley, dragging the chains of sins committed long ago.”
Read more

Time Out New York
July 28th, 2016

“The play unfolds in real time with the tension and urgency of Greek tragedy...O’Kane is harrowingly good, a bullet-headed knot of anger and bilious rue. Conlon’s stoical Ian is more contained, until he’s provoked past the paralysis of his guilt. And Zawadzki maintains a fine balance between the two, a gently comical observer, the bemused outsider. Jimmy Fay’s direction is rock solid and the terse, lean play grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.”
Read more

Theatermania
July 28th, 2016

“McCafferty unpacks their story in that most Irish of fashions: extended monologues recounting painful memories. Luckily, the three actors in this cast are particularly good at painting vivid pictures with their tongues...Director Jimmy Fay endows this production with plenty of deafening silences as the three men stare up at the TV screen. The air is charged with electricity...Maintaining a vague air of menace and intrigue, ‘Quietly’ never allows us to settle into a false sense of security.”
Read more

Lighting & Sound America
July 29th, 2016

"A taut, intensely focused piece…Under Jimmy Fay's tense, highly observant direction, Conlon and O'Kane offer stunning performances...'Quietly' is only too relevant in this summer of terror; all the more valuable, then, is its eloquent argument that violence solves nothing, instead causing lasting harm to everyone whom it touches. At the performance I attended, it was received with the kind of rapt silence that occurs only when an audience is truly listening, hanging on every word."
Read more

Talkin' Broadway
July 28th, 2016

“This is a bracing gut-punch of an evening that hits all the buttons you need but never quite goes where you expect it to...Fay's direction highlights this in its subdued tension, which is always roiling away just beneath the surface. O'Kane and Conlon make superb foils for each other...O'Kane is violently energetic, Conlon looks burned out from the eyes downward, and it's impossible to say who is scarier...'Quietly' rings out loud and clear.”
Read more

TheaterScene.net
July 29th, 2016

"Both of the lead characters have such striking similarities that at times they come across as mouthpieces academically articulating 'The Troubles'...The production has accomplished actors in it that elevate the script...Fay has staged this small-scale work that’s essentially a series of interactive monologues with technical flair...'Quietly' is a theater piece that’s well rendered but is characterized by being overly schematic and doesn’t quite soar to the profound heights it aspires to."
Read more

CurtainUp
July 28th, 2016

“Director Jimmy Fay complements the intense slow-burning dramatics with unhurried skill. But he also doesn't soft pedal one character's stunning bursts of brutal physicality...At its best, ‘Quietly’ is an impassioned play filled with gritty unpretentious dialogue. And the three terrific actors are splendidly recreating the vivid characters...It is a chilling reminder of how the climate of racism and intolerance and the threat of a terrorist attack has not significantly changed over the years.”
Read more

Theater Pizzazz
July 28th, 2016

"You could hear the proverbial pin drop in the hushed silence of the theater, as the two men spoke their truths, sometimes quietly, other times harshly and, hard to believe, eventually in a somewhat reconciliatory manner so that a level of understanding could be reached. McCafferty’s writing precisely controls the pace and emotional bits and pieces of the grief that each has lived with all these years...The threesome is brilliant as directed by Jimmy Fay."
Read more