For Peter Pan on her 70TH Birthday

[BIG BALONEY]

Posted: 8/28/17 at 12:49pm

Kathleen Chalfont and cast work hard on a disappointing play. Playwrights Horizon keeps presenting new work that just doesn't hit the mark. Don't go expecting Peter Pan, it involves a child many years ago, who once played the part in a school play. I subscribe to the theatre and am always hoping for their success.

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 8/28/17 at 1:09pm

Sarah Ruhl is hit or miss with me, and I definitely agree that this is one of her misses.

What's interesting to me is that this play has been produced a few times across the country and has gotten disappointed reviews everywhere it's gone. So why did Playwrights Horizons think it was a good idea to bring this in? 

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 8/28/17 at 1:16pm

I have to provide a contrary voice and say I was very moved by it and genuinely enjoyed it, and I despise Peter Pan. 

[Alfie6]

Posted: 8/28/17 at 1:25pm

This play was similar to other works by Sarah Ruhl, starts off fairly normal and then takes a sharp turn to crazy town. You will be scratching your heard wondering what exactly is happening, it's quite bizarre but not really if you have seen her other plays and just come to expect it. The first half of the play was boring and absolute torture to sit through since nothing happens, there are long pauses of silence where characters are just looking at the floor or each other. It took me a bit to realize Kathleen Chalfant was a sibling since she just seemed so much older than the rest of the cast.  I enjoyed the last 20 minutes a lot and had a great time sitting through that insanity. it's not an absolute must-see and it's not brilliant either but it had some charm.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 8/28/17 at 3:34pm

I'll echo most of what Alfie said, though I didn't think the first part was THAT boring (I didn't love it, but I was engaged enough). The 2nd part (of 3) was the most boring for me - just lots of reminiscing in great detail about things we don't really care about. Like we GET IT, you're a family and you've had a lot of meaningful memories together. Though I did enjoy the bits where...

 

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The ghost of the dad was puttering around the house.

I agree that the last of the 3 segments is the most entertaining, and ultimately the most moving. Though of course the 3rd part wouldn't have meant anything to us without the context from the first 2 parts, so in that way it all sort of came together in the end. 

Not a brilliant piece of theatre, but worth a visit if you like Ruhl's work. For my part, I think her earlier work was much better than her recent stuff, but I still find her intriguing enough to keep seeing her new plays. 

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 7:59am

This was a complete miss for me. There was no drama there; all exposition. By the time the ending scene happened, I didn't care anymore because we'd been hit over the head so many times with the play's major theme of not wanting to grow up. The whole thing felt lazy.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 2:36pm

Aside from Bella, I do think this is stronger than most of PH's recent efforts, which is disappointing. (Because it's the story of an Irish Catholic family this is their least diverse play in recent memory. In general, I'd rather see them try and fail at being more inclusive than tell these same family dramas.)

I'd say there were three main sections basically dictated by the set changes. The hospital was the dullest to me. It felt the most unnatural as a way of establishing the characters and all of those pauses didn't accomplish anything. I didn't know if they were trying to convey the awkward/ordinary nature of the experience of waiting for a loved one to pass. Or if there was supposed to be humor there. Whatever it was didn't land and it could have been way shorter.

The dinner table section was an improvement though it was also frustrating trying to latch onto what Ruhl was trying to say about religion, family, and politics. I don't think she knew. And it was irritating that her way of resolving things was to have each of the female characters get emotional in turn so the brothers could comfort her. 

The Peter Pan section is in some ways the most obvious but it was also the most entertaining (I thought that actor was just fine as one of the brothers but he was fantastic as a camp Hook) and it did get to me emotionally at the end. 

@JBroadway It's interesting you bring up context. I thought it was clumsy the way Ruhl would drop a piece of information that would be relevant later. I can't explain it without having the script in hand but something just felt structurally off about it. In general, I thought this was a simple story that was made unnecessarily complicated.

Also, I completely adored the dog. She was so well-trained. The bits with the dad were great but I was really just waiting for the dog to come back. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 7:01pm

Is the design interesting? 

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 7:24pm

RippedMan said: "Is the design interesting?"

No. The set is minimal and the Neverland stuff is obvious.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 8:07pm

The. Play. Is. Terrible. 

Do not go. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/10/17 at 10:53pm

I agree with the consensus. not painful but pretty darn pointless. 

scene 1: watching snow melt/watching water boil (you get the idea). for 30 minutes.

scene 2: a not-as-good version of The Apple Plays.

scene 3: kinda fun. way too much money spent.