Any thoughts on THE PATRON SAINT OF SEA MONSTERS at Playwrights Horizons?

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/28/13 at 8:58pm

Has anyone seen this yet? I'm probably gonna go soon and wanted to see if any of you guys have heard anything or have any thoughts on the production.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 10/28/13 at 10:00pm

It's fanciful and bordering on the absurd; can't decide whether I truly liked it or not. It seems like a nicely produced Fringe offering. The performances are captivating, and there are some fine, funny physical bits that I especially enjoyed. One definite negative: it's a little long and could use some judicious cutting in Act II. If you're in the mood for something quirky, you could do worse.

Updated On: 10/29/13 at 10:00 PM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 12:56am

It tries way too hard to be funny and just isn't. It also tries way too hard to be quirky which bored me.
I liked Rob Campbell's performance as Calvin but not enough to stick around for Act II.
P.S. I had plenty of company on the elevator leaving at intermission. Lots of heads were shaking.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 1:00am

I had plenty of company on the elevator leaving at intermission. Lots of heads were shaking.
^
Seems to be pretty common at PH nowadays.


Thanks for your thoughts guys! :)

Updated On: 10/29/13 at 01:00 AM

[April Saul]

Posted: 10/29/13 at 10:21am

Hi Wicked--I didn't post about Patron Saint because it's really hard to describe...weird, fringe-y, and kind of like Charles Busch meets I-don't-know-what! But I have to tell you that it was kind of fun, and that lots of folks around me were laughing like mad throughout. There were no walkouts at intermission at my performance. It's definitely not a show that I'd want to spend a ton of money on, but it was thoroughly enjoyable if a bit too long, and I especially liked the ending, which obviously one poster here couldn't comment on, having left in the middle.

Would love to hear what folks like you and Whizzer would think about it, so if you go, please post

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/10/13 at 12:30pm

The seven people on the elevator (including me) at intermission heading for the exit couldn't get out fast enough. How does crap like this get a first class production? The set is fascinating; the picture on the front of the program is a smart graphic; the actors are all very talented and giving it 110% but the play is disjointed, unfocused, pointless, unfunny and doesn't go anywhere. The direction o the piece is brisk. Is brisk crap a genre in theatre? This belongs in the great actors can't act dung category. The tone is over the top and people did laugh for the first five minutes and then there was kind of a group disconnect. This represents the Patron Saint of Bad Theatre. Who is reading plays at Playwright Horizons? Geez!!!!!!

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 11/10/13 at 1:41pm

I hope the person reading plays at PH is the same one who read The Flick, Mr. Burns, The Whale, The Call, and Detroit, which were highlights of the past year or so.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/10/13 at 2:14pm

This is a downtown play that causes consternation amongst a portion of the PH uptown audiences, and those are the ones on the elevator at the intermission. It falls in the category of "messy in a good way" so if that's not your thing, you won't like it, and may not stay long enough to figure out what you are seeing. I agree with the Charles Busch comparison. Trashy, over the top etc, and again if that doesn't appeal to you, this won't. I think the writing is good, and it most certainly has a point. The acting is terrific. Not perfect, and probably not going to win any awards, but worth seeing if you are the sort of person who can relax and see what a playwright is doing, rather than insisting that the playwright tell you the story the way you want to hear it. It's fine if that's you, but just understand you aren't going to get what you want this time.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 11/10/13 at 9:50pm

I had a great time the other night. It is almost an aburtist look at what would have happened if the mother from Glass Menagerie was committed and the daughter got to go to medical school. It's a shame people aren't staying for the second act because it wraps up very nicely.

[April Saul]

Posted: 11/10/13 at 11:33pm

Again, I agree with the last two posters: THIS SHOW IS KIND OF FUN!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 1:10am

You had me at downtown and absurdist. I'll be going. Just need to find a cheap-ish ticket.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 9:21am

Thank you to those who begin their reviews with "I left at intermission because I severely discount reviews that begin like that because the entire vision of those involved in production has not been evaluated. I'm not trying to compare Side Show to any masterpiece but I am sure the Last Supper or the Mona Lisa looked like crap half way completed.

Yes, your time may have been more valuable to you to leave instead of staying but you have not given the show the opportunity to wrap up the loose threads created in Act 1.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 1:23pm

I don't have a problem with folks who leave shows they don't like, or even with them telling us why they left. But when someone sees half a show and says it didn't have a "point" they aren't worth listening to.

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 2:31pm

I feel like, after reading the response to this and some other absurdist/high-concept shows this past season, the era for those shows may sadly be passing.

if "Rocky Horror" had premiered today instead of in the 1970s, would it be brushed aside in the same manner?

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/11/13 at 6:04pm

I saw Rocky Horror in London and it was great fun! I have seen many a Charles Busch play and most of them are great fun. This play does not compare to Rocky Horror or Charles Busch. I didn't chose to see the whole piece because a waste of my one hour and ten minutes was enough. It was like a writer's incoherent dream that belongs at her therapist's office; not on stage. My opinion only.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 12:16am

I've seen pretty much everything at Playwrights Horizons since I moved to New York eight years ago. It is, without a doubt, the absolute worst thing I've ever seen there.

Worse than Three Changes. Worse than Me, Myself & I. Worse than Floyd and Clea. Worse than The Retributionists. Worse than Kindness.

It's just a truly awful play. It's not just the production. It's the play itself. I sat through the whole thing and I couldn't help but feel sad for all of the other, better shows they could've programmed instead.

I expect the reviews tomorrow to be brutal.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 12:46am

Sorry it wasn't your cup of tea, but I expect the reviews to be quite laudatory, as was the overall reception when I saw the show. (Yes, there are those like you who do not and will not like it; the same for many shows.) Interestingly, I admired many of the shows you mention that you also disliked. Perhaps you ought to consider attending shows somewhere that better comports to your taste...

Then again, if these are just the outliers, maybe that tells us what Playwrights is programming is smart: a theatre that only gives you what you like is not taking the risks that are essential to great theatre.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 12:53am

Hogan'sHero, hear hear!
Darguegk, absurdist/high concept shows have rarely been commercial smashes. But just because plays like Patron Saint, or Mr Burns are met with raspberries by some here doesn't mean their era is passing. At Playwrights alone, Mr Burns and The Flick received many rave reviews and played extended, sold-out runs within the subscription season. I've had three friends whose opinion I trust see Patron Saint. All liked it very much.

[BobBenson]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 9:32am

This wasn't the best I've ever seen, but it wasn't the worst by far. Imagine the show TRUE BLOOD without the supernatural elements, then written, directed, and most definitely cast by John Waters and then you'd have PATRON SAINT.

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:15am

It's precisely the diversity of programming that makes Playwrights Horizons so important. Some of the best things I've seen in the eight years I've lived in New York were there: Mr. Burns, The Big Meal, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Drunken City, and Clybourne Park, just to name a few. That's just the chance you take.

At my performance on Sunday the reception was very poor. Around 20-25 people left at intermission, which makes a big difference in a house that only has 125 seats. Not much laughter from the ones who did stay.

I actually love big, wacky plays. I just thought this one wasn't acted, written, or directed well at all.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 10:45am

Vespertine, you didn't think Heisler,Campbell and Buckley acted well? Really? I can understand someone not liking the play, and even blaming the director for that dislike, but I can't imagine on what basis you would criticize at least these 3 actors (and the others as well).

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 12:16am

New York Times.. Christopher Isherwood

"By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Published: November 12, 2013


Is there a patron saint of befuddled theatergoers? Had I known of one, I would probably have been fervently praying at intervals throughout “The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters,” a wayward, Gothic comedy-drama by Marlane Meyer that opened on Tuesday night on Playwrights Horizons’ smaller stage.?"

[goldenboy]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 12:21am

I thought the actors were superb. I thought the set lots of fun. I thought the direction brisk.
I just thought the play was an amateurish bore at best. Good actors (as these obviously were) cannot save a substandard play. You can dress up doo doo but it's still doo doo.

Sorry they won't let me say ****.

Updated On: 11/13/13 at 12:21 AM