The Ferryman on Broadway

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From October at the Bernard B Jacobs

Updated On: 2/9/18 at 11:11 AM

Terrific show. Saw it in London this past Summer. A cast you wont believe. Occasionally hard to understand accent, but very watchable and enjoyable. Will see it a second time( which I rarely do).

Finally this and the Hangman! Some good new plays on Broadway!

So excited about this! I loved it in London and will see it again here. I hope Laura Donnelly comes over.

dramamama611 said: "A thirty person cast!! Wowza."

Some of whom are children, I've heard.

And then there's the rabbit and the goose!

Saw it in London in September- and was bowled over by it. LOVED it. One of the best shows ever. Yes, it has kids, old people, animals- and the storyline is very suspenseful and movies along at a quick pace. It is quite long- but the evening flew by. NY is in for a treat. It really does live up to the hype- and maybe exceeds it. A drama that explores human frailties- greed, self-interest- duplicity- hypocrisy- while tackling the Northern Ireland conflicts. Excellent.

Trust me- it is not similar to those plays at all- characters are developed- motivation is coherent- and the storyline is very conventional- in the sense that there is a beginning- a middle- an end- not a play with symbolism or existential overtones- it is a straight up drama- suspenseful- dramatic- relevant- and easily understandable. I guess I can liken it to other plays I have loved- in that it is conventional but very powerful- Golden Boy- The Heiress- to name two - plays that tell a story in conventional terms- but are powerful character studies and studies of human nature.

Yes- this is a great play with a lot of suspense- and the evildoers are not so obvious- but when greed and self interest is exposed- a lot of shocking revelations. Of course I will not ruin the play for you by telling you anything more. BTW- I also love more esoteric works- love Albee- love Beckett- but do not love to go to the theater and just give a big shrug as to what I just saw- and I have seen too many of those, to tell you the truth. And that is why I am not seeing The Birthday Party in London when I go in March- and am not seeing Three Tall Women- though I love Albee- I just think that those pieces- although interesting- would not be good for my brother- who I am seeing the shows with- he likes comprehensible shows that he can understand- The Ferryman is very literal-yet deep in its portrayals. Just want to reassure you that you are not getting into buying tickets to something that you might not comprehend the full meaning of- or that is so avant garde that you leave the theater perplexed. In NY I am seeing Iceman Cometh- which I have never seen before- wondering if I will love it or have difficulty with the almost 4 hour running time. But I do love Denzel- have never seen him in a live performance- and am going with high hopes.

wolfwriter said: "Always excited for new plays, but I had trouble staying awake after the first hour ofJerusalem and The River was an incoherent, first draftof a play that wanted me to think it was deep and important, but it bored me, as well.

Sincere question, for those who have seen The Ferryman, is it similar to those plays in tone/style or should I give Mr. Butterworth a third chance? I really want to like him, as so many others do, but, so far, it's not working out for me. TYVM for your thoughts."

I may be in the minority but I found the play to be very dense and anecdotal. I enjoyed the acting, staging and the million children onstage and the goose. Not so much the eternal monologues of those reminiscing of the past which added to understand the character's environment but not much to the plot. I also wanted to give the playwright another chance but I left thinking that the 3 hours was too much.

The cheapest full price ticket for this is $129?!?!

Heck, I paid less to see Adele at Madison Square Garden.

The greed of producers continues to disgust me. Theatre needs to be accessible.

Updated On: 3/6/18 at 01:40 PM