I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I COULD DIE @ NYTW

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/22/24 at 4:06pm

I went on a whim with someone the other night and haven't stopped thinking about it since. It was a last minute thing and I went in 100% knowing nothing about the show or what it would be. 
This is a one woman autobiographical show staring Mona Pirnot, directed by her husband Lucas Hnath, starting around the time of them meeting and then into a tragic event in her life at the beginning of the pandemic. It's not giving anything away to say that the entire show is Mona sat center stage at a table with her back to the audience. She never speaks for the shows 65 minute run time and her words are only heard through a Microsoft text to speech feature on an open laptop next to her that tells her stories. We only ever hear her voice 5 times when she picks up the guitar to her right and sings (some pretty exceptional songs, I thought). 

Again, not knowing what I was about to see it took me about 15-20 minutes to really get into this and appreciate what I was watching and by the end I was just a damn mess crying. I got home and read some of the reviews which are extremely mixed on the project but I'm in the camp that I thought it was brilliant. I'm just really curious if anyone else has seen it and what your thoughts were - good or bad. On paper it's the kind of show I'd probably make fun of for trying to be "artsy" for no reason other than the be "artsy" but damnit if it didn't move me like few things have recently. 

Updated On: 2/23/24 at 04:06 PM

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 1:23pm

I had been vaguely curious about this but then wrote it off since it's been a busy time for me, but your review is definitely making me consider it more!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 1:38pm

I went again last night. Seriously just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Like a song you can’t get out of your head and have this need to listen to it again. And again. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 2:43pm

This is certainly a fascinating piece and I appreciate the Brechtian experiment of having the storyteller physically keep their distance from the audience. However the end result is that as an audience member you don't feel as connected. I'll admit I even dozed off for a little in the middle as I was just sitting and listening to a preprogrammed voice speak at me. The tie between the text and the songs wasn't really making much sense to me either. There were moments I was emotionally invested, but as a whole I think the piece leaves its audience a little cold, which I guess is the point. How are you supposed to love a show that turns it back on you? It's a fun thought experiment, but to sit through it isn't exactly a good time.

I really like Lucas Hnath and find the simplicity of his works are actually their biggest strengths. Dana H was one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences I've had since the pandemic. But between this and the immensely boring "A Simulacrum" I think he should go back to writing regular plays instead of experimenting more with this verbatim style.

I do have to say, I'm rather shocked that Microsoft David elicited so many laughs out of me.

Updated On: 2/23/24 at 02:43 PM

[Synecdoche2]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 2:48pm

Lucas Hnath is not the author of this play

[raddersons]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 2:50pm

He is the director of the piece and surely helped conceive it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 3:06pm

Raddersons, last night there were a few walkouts during the show and at the end, I saw people sitting there just shaking their heads when a lot of others were standing applauding her. 

I love theater like this that divides people - I find it exciting especially now in a time when so much of what’s put on seems to be “safe” and “for the masses”. So when a piece of “experimental” theater moves me, that’s why I always am interested to hear from people who had an opposite reaction. 

[raddersons]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 3:27pm

Same here Jordan. Always appreciate a swing like this, even if it’s a whiff to me. I definitely didn’t dislike it so much as to walk out as others, but when people were standing applauding at the end I really just thought “…really?” At the end of the day, when you see theater you do not see the same show as someone else, both physically and emotionally. Dissecting those differences is maybe one of my favorite things about theater — how can two people breathing the same air feel so different?

I don’t always agree with you Jordan but I’m always interested in what you have to say, because I think we looking for similar things in theater. We just sometimes find them in different works. 

Updated On: 2/23/24 at 03:27 PM

[kurtal]

Posted: 2/23/24 at 4:59pm

I really really loved this show.  It requires patience.  And yes, the Microsoft David element is weird and could be alienating.  But by the end of the show it was clear to me that, not only was there thought behind that choice, but that it actually provided true insight into the author's lived experience in a way that I didn't see coming.  

This wasn't weird for the sake of being weird.  Every element has clear intention behind it, and if you look for that, you'll can really be blown away.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 2/29/24 at 9:13pm

Saw the show for a third and final time this evening and I’m so sad I won’t ever see it again. Crazy how this little show moved me like few shows have been able to do, in years. It’s run is concluding on March 9th and I truly do urge people to go check it out. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/5/24 at 3:16pm

Thanks for recommending this so highly, Jordan! It was on my radar when NYTW announced their season and completely slipped my mind since. I saw that it was closing this week and came on here to look for any reviews and you sold me. Seeing it on Friday and very much looking forward to it.

Also, taking someone who has never seen a non-musical piece of theatre before, so this should be an interesting break from their concept of theatre.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/8/24 at 11:30pm

Well, that was really something special.

If you’re reading this, and you have a matinee or evening show opening tomorrow, go see one of the last two performances. I wasn’t prepared for how moving this would be on such a personal level. I loved every single thing about it.

This was also one of the most rapt audiences I’ve ever been a part of. And one of the rare occasions where I heard so many audience members saying how they wanted to rush out and tell people to see it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/9/24 at 7:27am

I’m so glad you loved it! I wish more people could have had a chance to experience this one. 
 

I forgot to mention that I asked Pirnot if the songs would be recorded and she said they’re discussing releasing an EP, so fingers crossed for that one. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 3/9/24 at 10:09am

Oh, I really hope she records an EP! The songs were exceptional. Especially the one she played for her mom on her phone and the title song, but they were all so unexpected and beautiful.