LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Previews
#2
Posted: 9/22/16 at 10:26pm
I was there tonight. The play is presented in three acts (two intermissions), with the second and third acts taking place roughly 20 years after the preceding act.
Act one was rather dull and talky. I was praying this would all be an elaborate set up for something to happen in the following two acts.
This is one of those plays where certain lines and ideas are repeated in each act, but often by different characters, having altered significance. That I like, but there wasn't enough of it.
The tone shift between act one and act two was very jarring. If act one could put you to sleep, act two was a slapstick infused farce. The audience felt much more engaged, but it certainly felt at odds with what came before it. Act three was somewhere in the middle and its success rate was also middling.
A weird play. Not nearly as put together as King Charles III or as effortless as Cock.
Amy Ryan gave a nice performance.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#3
Posted: 9/22/16 at 11:31pm
What time did the 7:30pm show let out?
Updated On: 9/22/16 at 11:31 PM
#4
Posted: 9/23/16 at 2:16am
We were out by 945. There are two 10 minute intermissions and each act is 35 minutes. There are three acts.
#5
Posted: 9/23/16 at 10:03pm
Hoo boy! This is one to skip. Horrible, unsympathetic characters, muddled ideas. What a way to defile a decent Beatles song.
#6
Posted: 9/23/16 at 10:53pm
I really enjoyed it. It was consistently surprising, beautifully performed, very funny but still often uncomfortable, and really quite thought-provoking. It's going to be quite divisive, as its true the characters aren't especially sympathetic and the tone is quite stylized. For me, it was a winner. And I'm especially pleased to enjoy something so much from the Roundabout after the two misfires that are Holiday Inn and the dreadful Cherry Orchard.
Amy Ryan and Zoe Kazan were the standouts for me, but the whole cast of five is pretty terrific.
#7
Posted: 9/23/16 at 11:48pm
Hm. Amy Ryan might get me in the door. What's the design like?
#8
Posted: 9/25/16 at 3:50am
The one thing that can be said for this play is that it exposes the '60s "idealist" "do-your-own-thing" set as the selfish, inconsiderate, irresponsible crowd they were. The play shows how two of them become loathsome, destructive parents. I wouldn't exactly call it a gratifying evening of theatre.
The first act is dull, talky, and sour. It's quite a stretch to ask the audience to believe the two leads to be nineteen year olds. The next two acts are cold, cynical, nasty, and bitter.
#9
Posted: 9/25/16 at 7:33pm
With the right review, do we think this could transfer, a la THE HUMANS?
#10
Posted: 9/29/16 at 9:05am
I saw this last night and thought it was fine but inconsequential. Yes, the second act is the best of the three, and I found the third act almost endless. The acting is uniformly good, with Amy Ryan being the real standout. I was most excited to see Richard Armitage on stage but his role doesn't have much meat to it at all. This was kind of a disappointment for me given how much I enjoyed Mike Bartlett's previous works.
I don't see this transferring at all. I can't imagine the critics will rave, and even if they do, it's a very slight play.
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
Updated On: 9/29/16 at 09:05 AM
#11
Posted: 9/29/16 at 9:11am
I agree that rave reviews seem unlikely, though I imagine the performances of Ryan and Kazan will be praised. A transfer seems unlikely too. It's a fine production of an underdeveloped play. Bartlett doesn't fully make the case that Kenneth and Sandra are the standard-bearers of their entire generation, and Rose serves as little more than a didactic mouthpiece.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#12
Posted: 10/12/16 at 10:59am
Saw it last night and loved it, it's funny and entertaining throughout. I think Bartlett is one of the best writers in theater & Amy Ryan was terrific. Act 3 might need a little tightening, but thought the 1st 2 acts were both very enjoyable. The dialogue has a Mamet like cadence at times, that may bother some people, but I would recommend this highly & may try to see it again towards the end of the run to see if there are any changes
#13
Posted: 10/12/16 at 9:53pm
This just let out. I loved it. I can understand what earlier posters were saying about the change in tone between the acts but I feel it was intentional as each act was several decades from the one preceding it. The characters evolve as does their way of handling and viewing things. Well, at least some change. Others not so much. ??
Ultimately I think it was a really fun commentary on the hippie generation what they've turned into. Summer of Love is now what? Selfishness? I don't know.
I was very confused where this was all headed but the third act brought it all in focus quite nicely and unexpectedly.
Great at performances all around. A fast evening. I wouldn't see it a second time but I'm very glad I went.
#14
Posted: 10/13/16 at 9:36am
My boyfriend and I loved this show. We've seen many things at that theatre, and this is definitely one of our favorites. Very funny, smartly written, and excellent acting.
I totally agree with theatregoer3 regarding character growth. The change in tone was not jarring. The characters simply find themselves in a different place in their lives that they didn't expect to be.
I loved seeing how the characters changed over the decades and thought the actors did an outstanding job. The lead actress is wonderful and I'll happily return to see her again.
#15
Posted: 10/16/16 at 1:04pm
Does anyone know if Amy Ryan ever stage doors? Thanks!
#16
Posted: 10/16/16 at 3:42pm
WhizzerMarvin-have you ever met/ran into/know AfterEight at any of the first night previews that you both seem to/always attend?
Just curious--you might have sat next to each other--that would be spooky[and fun]--would love to hear THAT conversation.
SL
#17
Posted: 10/16/16 at 7:37pm
"Ultimately I think it was a really fun commentary on the hippie generation what they've turned into. Summer of Love is now what? Selfishness?"
It was selfishness then. The one merit of the play was to show that.
"I don't know."
I do. I got to have a first-hand look at them at the time. Not a pleasant sight, by any means.
#18
Posted: 10/17/16 at 9:57am
I saw this on Saturday and quite enjoyed it. It's an acidic play the scope of which clicks together in the third act. Amy Ryan really does steal the show with her second act performance. The second act is indeed the strongest, not in the least because this is the only portion of the show in which the actors are playing characters close to their ages.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#19
Posted: 10/17/16 at 7:24pm
How is Richard Armitage? I was a big fan of him in the Old Vic production of The Crucible.
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