Anybody have opinions on Gruesome Playground Injuries, A Small Fire, or the new Adam Rapp trilogy?- Page 2

[stagemanager3]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 7:57am

We loved "Animals out of Paper" and were all set to love "Gruesome Playground Injuries". But we found it trivial, shallow and off-putting.

We didn't much like the actors changing clothes in full view of the audience thought it even more distanced us from this story.

Thought the actors change in age was unconvincing.

Couldn't make head or tail out of the ending.

[The Other One]

Posted: 1/25/11 at 10:23am

I'm with you stagemanager3. I felt like I was watching the same scene over and over again, with little change other than an overhead caption substituting for character growth. It wasn't the actors fault, but it felt like an acting class exercise, and not one that was going to score anybody an "A".

[April Saul]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 12:00am

So in the end, I caught the last performance of A Small Fire tonight...wow! So glad I saw it, the actors really blew me away, and my daughter who isn't easily impressed was weeping next to me. Absolutely lovely. The Rapp trilogy is starting performances next weekend, if it's half as interesting as Playground Injuries and Fire, I'm there!

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 10:53am

i saw "injuries" this weekend and it was in my top 5 of "worst things i have seen in nyc"

The acting of Jennifer was atrocious. Being young doesn't not mean acting like you have a mental problem. I really thought she was a mentally disturbed person at the beginning of the show.

Can someone tell me the point of the show? That one person is hurting inside while the other is hurting outside? Why are they friends anyway? in every scene she is just awful to him. Why would he be friends with her? Pick a new friend who doesn't say "get out of here" every time you hang out with them. Or is he a savior who is trying to rescue her from herself? Does he hurt himself so she will be near him? WHO CARES!
this show was just awful.

[EdenIsMyHero]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 4:35pm

I saw Gruesome Playground Injuries yesterday. I'm not quite sure how I felt about it- there were elements I really liked, specially the staging, the set, and the non-linear structure. I thought the performances were very strong as well and some of the scenes were very powerful. However, I found the ending very abrupt and off-putting and felt like overall the play was just a series of anecdotes that ended without any real meaning or conclusion. I enjoyed each scene for what it was, but as a whole it wasn't particularly memorable.

[April Saul]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 5:37pm

Okay, I'll try to address some of the questions posed here, although they may be rhetorical...Doug and Kayleen are walking wounded, human train wrecks who desperately need to heal each other and don't know how. If they felt they were worthy of love and could accept it, then they wouldn't even be in the positions they're in. The miracle would be for them to be able to do that, and Joseph ends the play with the hope that finally, they just might. Their backstories are left vague, but there's no doubt from the pain they've inflicted on themselves over the years, that their own families of origin would have had to be deeply dysfunctional.

Now whether or not that makes moving, illuminating theater is a personal thing; but psychologically, the characters seem to make perfect sense to me--if you figure that they've both been pretty much damaged goods from childhood on. I was touched by their pain and their plight, but that doesn't mean you have to be.

[massofmen]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 9:30pm

april, since I have an IQ over 76 i already got your point from watching the show. It was from the first 6 minutes...the other god awful 84 min didn't tell us anything new..and they saw each other twice in 8 years? and they are "kindred spirits"? JUst awful


p.s i think the worst performing monologue ever was when the girl had the whole scene to herself over his hospital bed..I saw 3 couples walk out WHILE the monologue was going on..just horrendous..

[#1Elphie]

Posted: 1/31/11 at 10:24pm

If anyone's interested, the NYTimes review of Gruesome Playground Injuries is out.
http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/theater/reviews/01gruesome.html?smid=tw-nytimesTheater

[BScottCasting]

Posted: 2/18/11 at 10:30am

I am seeing this show tonight. I wanted to catch this before it closes. I am a fan of Jennifer's work on Dexter. Anyone else on here attending?