AND I AND SILENCE

[Mike3]

Anyone going to the first performance this evening?

[broadwaybelter]

I'd be curious to know thoughts on this, too. I attended a reading of this play that had a very mixed reaction.

[Matt Rogers]

Curious about this as well. Looks like a two-hander one-act. Anyone know?

[broadwaybelter]

The play focuses on two characters at two different ages. There are 4 actors total (older & younger).

[Mike3]

I went to the first preview on Tuesday.

I was particularly moved by the scenes with Rachel Nicks and Samantha Soule. Younger Jaime and Dee are still finding their way, but the adult characters have tremendous chemistry already.

It's a dark story. I'll be interested in hearing more reactions.

All seats for AND I AND SILENCE are just $25. This was my first visit to the Pershing Square Signature Center. What a beautiful facility!

[playlover2010]

I saw the second preview last night. It is dark, but incredibly beautiful and very well done, especially for so early. The actors, especially the 2 playing the "older versions" (they are only in their 20's) are fantastic. The show really broke my heart in a very powerful way. And like previous poster said, all tix are $25 -- can't go wrong.

[stevenycguy]

What time does a 7:30pm show end? (As of this morning, the Signature Theater hasn't posted this to their web site.)

[playlover2010]

Last night's show got out right at 9 -- 90 minutes, no intermission. (My idea of perfection.)

[stevenycguy]

"Mixed reaction" is a kind way of putting many people's reactions to this show. I found it 1 hour 35 minutes of an utter bore. I didn't believe any of the characters for one minute. These were very one-dimensional characters, and it was not acted well. They just kept talking and talking endlessly about things that happened in the past, and then talked endlessly about mundane things. Then they role played with each other. One hit the other with a stick a few times. In one of the scenes about 10 minutes before the end, the re-enactment of a certain situation could have evoked horror and empathy with a better cast, but it came across as juvenile and disgusting the way it was presented. The final scene was unnecessarily gory and I had no idea why it happened and what it was supposed to represent. The playwright does not have any idea of how to tell a coherent story, if the audience cannot follow along.

The well-dressed elderly lady in black, with a fancy black necklace, in the 2nd row, who snoozed through the whole show, said it all. Many many yawns and closed eyes in the audience. I highly doubt this show will be extending to the full $75 price.

[I'mseeingbraille57]

It's not gonna be a play for everyone. If you love poetic theatre that deals with fairly dark subject matter, and don't mind slow burns then you should check this out. I thought it was beautiful gripping and the ending made total sense and was completely justified. Also I thought the acting was razor sharp and the actors were doing exactly what the play was asking of them.

[mjohnson2]

EDIT: In case you are wondering, it's about two women in prison: one white and one black in the early 1950's. As time passes when they're in prison, the world changes. The play itself is told non linearly.

Wow. After seeing this I can honestly say that the Signature along with the York Theatre Company and TACT are becoming the best companies in New York. Hauntingly beautiful is probably the best way to describe it. Beautifully subtle acting mixes with a very delicate script to create an extremely good night at the theatre.

[Borstalboy]

After her brilliant--and misunderstood in New York--masterpiece ONE FLEA SPARE, I was really looking forward to AND I AND SILENCE and walked away bored and disappointed. It hits all the obvious points without delving terribly deep into them and the word play games began to feel terribly writer-y to me.

I disagree about the acting. I thought they all looked a little lost, miscast, or stuck in one note. This has to be the umpteenth production I have seen this year--cast by Telsey, of course--where there was a gritty character that was played by an actor or actress who was so wholesome they looked like they wandered in from THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

Anyhow, I found it be exactly the kind of victim narrative that puts people off of feminist writing. I hope Wallace's plays in the upcoming season are a little more exciting, because--as ONE FLEA SPARE proves--she's definitely got it in her.

[DEClarke]

I saw it during previews as well, and I wasn't terribly impressed. I felt that the pacing was terrible and that much of the play dragged. We were told more than shown about the more gritty and interesting moments. The final three scenes were the strongest, but it was struggle to get through the 80 minutes that led up to those scenes.

[henrikegerman]

Liked the play, which is plainly influenced by "The Maids." But it indeed is a mixed bag. Many things don't work, not the least of which is the ending. Four compelling performances.

[newintown]

Oh, this is by the same gal who wrote One Flea Spare? I saw that in Louisville many years ago, and remember it as an endless talky night of nothing. Sooooooo much talk... I think we have too many playwrights who think of theatre as nothing but dialogue.