Broadway Flash said: "Anyone at the first performance?"
Yes I was there yesterday March 3, I think that was the first performance.
My take on it -- it held my interest, and I'd recommend it for all the performances, but especially for Paapa Essiedu, who is so wonderful in a role that gives him an enchanting character, funny, wise, vulnerable -- and a huge range of emotional and physical states and expressions. As to a central focus of the story -- how do we integrate modern knowledge about biochemistry and emotions with how we name and experience our lives (is this love? or is it chemicals?) -- for reasons having to do with my life, I've been thinking about all that for too long maybe to be stimulated by this presentation of it.
One complaint, about a detail in this first performance -- when you are sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start, there is an extremely violently loud soundtrack playing, meant I think to represent or produce -- in us -- a kind of internal agitation that's a concern of the play, as it's used that way, but less loud, throughout. It is not bad in itself, but it involves a great deal of banging and booming, and it was seriously much much much too loud yesterday -- if you think you wouldn't like that, or want to chat with a person you came with, wait until the last minute to be seated. If that changes, as I hope it will, I hope somebody will note it here.
