Posted: 11/5/22 at 8:04pm
I didn't realize she was 85. Remarkable. Both because her stamina in a very large part, but also how ambitious it is. It's a layered, nuanced, and deeply affecting performance. Wow.
Posted: 11/5/22 at 9:13pm
Leaving the final preview now. WHOO-BOY are there some vocal angry senior citizens who have no idea what they just saw.
Posted: 11/5/22 at 9:52pm
I’m home now and just like last week when I saw this, I needed some time to sit and process. I’d thought about the play all week and really needed to see it again. I’d give anything to pick the playwright’s brain a bit.
The show opens tomorrow and I really hope the critics respond to it the way we on here are.
Posted: 11/5/22 at 10:01pm
I also went for the second time tonight but unfortunately had to leave early to catch a train. I can’t wait for the play to be published so I can pick through it. I also wish I heard the audience reaction tonight, lol.
Posted: 11/5/22 at 11:26pm
Really wish I could see this. These responses are so rapturous and make the play sound fascinating. I attended a reading of a different play by this playwright and was the single worst play I've encountered in a life time of playgoing. That said, it was very risky and I'd love to see a play were those big risks pay off.
Posted: 11/5/22 at 11:30pm
KJisgroovy said: "Really wish I could see this. These responses are so rapturous and make the play sound fascinating. I attended a reading of a different play by this playwright and was the single worst play I've encountered in a life time of playgoing. That said, it was very risky and I'd love to see a play were those big risks pay off."
i have to admit this was one of the worst plays I have seen. Maybe I just didn’t fully understand it?
But love seeing Linda Lavin on stage!
Posted: 11/5/22 at 11:34pm
I don’t “fully” understand it, either. And I love that.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 9:09am
Jordan Catalano said: "Leaving the final preview now. WHOO-BOY are there some vocal angry senior citizens who have no idea what they just saw."
Heard from one of the artists on it they had a talkback and some of the older audiences members were upset and asking, Are you making fun of us? They felt the young lead character was somehow a proxy for an senior citizen, which is... fascinating. i definitely didnt get that, but the play being as metaphoric as it is, it allows some interpretation and that's what they projected on.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 9:52am
I don’t see that at all or how anyone could interpret it that way. Weird. But since so much of it is open to interpretation maybe they’re seeing something I’m not.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 5:48pm
At my performance the majority of the audience was elderly. Many had canes, walkers, disabilities. I truly wondered how they would interpret and receive this play. It’s themes may be painful and jarring.
I think it was just beautiful. I’d love a convo with the author.
SPOILER QUESTIONS BELOW!!! Only for those who have seen the play.
Upon reflection I wondered if Linda (Callan) was an Angel. I wondered if she really existed on earth. The fact that he spoke to her on the phone made it feel like those were prayers to her. Since Linda also played his mother, I wondered if his Angel took the form of his mother.
Also, her asking for money for every little task seemed as though it was a metaphor for the cost of illness-financial, spiritual and emotional.
I also thought she might be the woman in the bed next to him in the hospital (who was never shown) and she was existing in his dreams, thoughts as well as his altered thoughts (possible dementia).
The Wizard of Oz metaphors are very rich too. “There’s no place like home” aka death.
Again, I love this play.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 5:58pm
Betty, your questions are all good ones and good for debate but I think it’s all so open to interpretation. I’d love to sit down with the playwright also, or just a group of people who’ve seen the show and dissect it.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 11:12pm
Thanks for sharing these; I am almost certain I will struggle with the absurdity here (i respect surrealist drama but i never enjoy it) but the raves for Linda Lavin will convince me to buy a ticket.
Posted: 11/6/22 at 11:18pm
My pleasure. I’m just shocked the reviews aren’t more completely split down the middle with some loving it and the rest hating every second.
Posted: 11/7/22 at 12:01am
Beyond thrilled at the positive reviews, that NYT Critics Pick especially
Posted: 11/9/22 at 3:17pm
There are some contextual articles and artist interviews on their website?
https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/get-tickets/upstage-guides-current/you-will-get-sick/
Posted: 11/9/22 at 5:27pm
Went to the matinee today and spoke to Dario Ladani Sanchez afterwards. I picked up on a few things I previously hadn’t and wanted to ask him about it and basically his response was
he’s been friends with the playwright for a long time and basically told me the play was written to be completely metaphorical (which I sort of figured) and that there’s no actual “meaning” for the themes in it, but it’s written to mean exactly what you (the audience) see it as meaning. So that’s good to hear that my feelings and ideas changing every time I’ve gone, is pretty much exactly what’s intended. There are no wrong interpretations of anything in it
Posted: 11/11/22 at 3:50pm
From what I gather, Linda Lavin makes it all worth it? I'm a huge fan and I can get HIPTIX, so I am really drawn to it. Just always have a hard time deciding!
Posted: 11/11/22 at 5:42pm
Jordan Catalano said: "Went to the matinee today and spoke toDario Ladani Sanchez afterwards. I picked up on a few things I previously hadn’t and wanted to ask him about it and basically his response was
"
Thanks for this insight Jordan.
Posted: 11/12/22 at 1:42am
Lavin was out the other night. Is she still out?
Posted: 11/12/22 at 3:34am
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Lavin was out the other night. Is she still out?"
She doesn’t perform Wednesday evenings. Was she out in addition to that?
