Posted: 1/17/25 at 5:34pm
The Antiquities - Playwrights Horizons
Has anyone seen this? Reports back?
Thx!
Posted: 1/19/25 at 1:34pm
Went last night, and left very underwhelmed. I can't say I've seen Harrison's other plays — given the praise coming out of Playwrights the past couple of seasons in particular, I was really hoping for something unique and thoughtful, but mostly found myself bored.
The whole show is presented as a series of vignettes, "exhibits" in a museum of human history that progress forward through time and into the future. Naturally there gets to be discussion of technological advancement, implanted artificial intelligence, and a look at society pulled under by reliance on these innovations. That said, none of it really seemed new or uniquely insightful — it felt like bits and pieces of plot from other plays, movies, or TV shows (I kept thinking "we've definitely seen this before"
I'm not sure the overall message of the show extends much beyond "here is how humans lived until they didn't."
Curious to know if this ends up connecting for other people, and if I really just missed something subtle, or if indeed it's a little too slight to pack any punch.
Updated On: 1/19/25 at 01:34 PM
Posted: 1/26/25 at 6:25pm
Anyone else see it? I hope this is not another dud like that last play they did. Quite a negative turnaround from all the hits of last season to this.
Posted: 1/26/25 at 6:54pm
I quite enjoyed it --- I thought it was weird and made me think a lot about my relationship with technology!
Posted: 1/26/25 at 7:03pm
I thought it was an excellent production of a rich, thoughtful and unsettling play. Absolutely worth seeing.
There is a spoiler in my review towards the end.
singleticket's Substack - The Antiquities
Updated On: 1/27/25 at 07:03 PM
Posted: 1/27/25 at 8:00am
I found this to be a fun night out. The format goes forward in time from the past and into the future in a bunch of small vignettes about our relationship with life and technology. Halfway thru it goes backwards and you see a second part of each of the stories. In the first half it’s exciting to see where we’re being taken, and in the second you’re curious about how those people really end up.
I don’t think it has a ton new to say about humanity or technology but I do keep thinking about it so it’s sticking.
