Prodigal Son (previews)

Bump because I want thoughts and run time

Remember when Sally Field exclaimed to the Oscars audience, "You like me, you really like me!"

About this play, I can only exclaim, "I loathed it, I really loathed it!"

A troubled, obnoxious, violent, lying, thief of an adolescent is given a scholarship to a prep school (against all logic), where he proceeds to act obnoxiously and violently, and lie and steal. But he babbles a lot about the meaning of life, references Socrates and Dickens, and quotes Walt Whitman, which makes him, we are told, a superior mind, thereby excusing his every misdeed. Sorry, but I wasn't buying any of it. I found the whole thing morally abject and thoroughly noisome.

90 minutes, no intermission.

Any more recent reviews. Trying to decide wether to attend next weekend or unload my ticket

I went last Friday. My reaction is not as extreme as AE, but I didn't get it. Wasn't sure if I just don't "get" plays or if this one just lacked...substance? Alas, no technical issues or other problems as mentioned in the other post above. Some good performances, but the play itself was pretty meh. I don't regret going ($30 ticket) especially since it got me to the theater on what ended up being a lost weekend trip due to the blizzard.

**Slight Spoiler**I know it's autobiographical so nothing is really a twist per se, but the one here was not all that shocking, if it was supposed to be. **End Spoiler**

I definitely enjoyed it. It takes place in the 1960s and shows how a tough guy from the Bronx gets accepted into a prestigious high school away from home. He excels at some subjects but keeps his tough-guy attitude with him and frequently gets into fights, steals things, etc. One big question is: will he actually graduate (does he have the proper "values" to graduate)? He seems to be receiving lots of special attention from the headmaster, the headmaster's wife, a teacher, etc. Quite a few plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end (including something to do with the teacher.) Top-notch acting, and runs just over 90 minutes with no intermission.

I was there last night and pretty much hated the whole thing. I found it uninteresting and repetitive, and the revelations that occur in the last 15 minutes or so feel forced (especially the one about the headmaster.) It doesn't feel like anything really happen, and I don't know why we should really care in the end (especially since it's autobiographical so we know things work out for Jim in the end.)

Between this and Our Mother's Brief Affair, I don't know what MTC was thinking.

Updated On: 2/4/16 at 08:52 AM

Saw the show last night and I'm pretty mixed about the whole thing. I enjoyed the writing more than I enjoyed the story and I thought the acting served it well especially Timothée Chalamet.

While he isn't the best actor he is certainly charismatic and you want to root for him to succeed even if the play isn't. I was a fan of him in Homeland so I wanted the opportunity to see him on stage. I'd like to see a little more from him than the bad boy with a heart of gold. Robert Sean Leonard is fine but I don't get why he's so prevalent in the artwork because his character isn't as important as the headmaster and he's not even a big name anymore. I was honestly very confused by the casting of David Potters and here's why. He is very clearly Jewish and his character's last name is Schmidt and we're told he is related to the headmaster. The headmaster's wife is introduced as Mrs. Schmidt so I thought she too was Jewish but then before dinner they start praying like Catholics. I guess you could say it is nitpicking but these all seemed like deliberate choices that didn't make sense.

As people have already mentioned the play falls apart in the last 15 mins or so. It's all very realistic, if not a tad boring, throughout but then we have a scene that turns a little fantastical. In my opinion It was a way to wrap everything up very quickly for a quick 95 min play. The problem is that Shanley is introducing elements that require a bit more of an examination. In all honesty I found the

The set is serviceable enough even though it was a bit boring to just be like platform coming from stage left with furniture, platform coming from stage right with furniture and repeat. The dollhouse in the back also came off a bit silly to me. And while Shanley is a gifted writer, he's not a great director. I found that the cast interacted with the set in a weird way and the interactions between characters came off as robotic. Chalamet also did a lot of scenes with his hands behind his back that kind of annoyed me.

While I don't think this is as bad as OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR, MTC isn't having the best of luck recently which is why I think they're bringing back HEISENBERG. This is a good time to mount such a nothing play because little else is playing right now and options are more limited. I'd recommend seeing it for Timothée Chalamet if you're a fan of his.

The whole thing is just a Catcher in the Rye rehash. Boring.