Was there tonight and had a good time. Thought the play lost a little bit of steam near the end, but even without a few helpful nips and tucks it would stand as a very solid, enjoyable piece. It reminded me a lot of Collected Stories actually. Covers some of the same issues and themes.
I thought all five of the cast members were pretty terrific with Lily Rabe being the standout. I don't know if she can carry a tune, but I would love to hear her sing sometime, especially something like "Knowing When To Leave." She is just so interesting to me and love all the acting choices she makes.
Rickman plays their private writing seminar instructor, but seems to only get pleasure in cutting them down to size and crushing their dreams. Nothing we haven't necessarily seen before, but it's a lot of fun watching Rickman go to work. Hamish Linklater plays the writer who refuses to share any of his work with the group, Jerry O'Connell is riding on his family's name and has had a few modest publishing successes already and Hettienne Park is set to use whatever she can to get her sexually charged prose published.
The show ran near two hours, but really flew up. I laughed a lot, and near was bored. I don't think it's anything Earth-shattering, but does all theater need to be?
One question I did have was why are they holding each seminar in Lily Rabe's apartment? It's not that it's implausible, but Rebeck could easily clarify the issue with a quick exchange of dialogue.
I think it has the potential to be crowd-pleaser, but the producers need to do a better job marketing the show. I think the title, although appropriate, sounds like you're going to be sitting through a lecture or something. Hopefully good word of mouth spreads and people give it a chance.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
