Guards at the Taj (Rajiv Joseph)?

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 5/22/15 at 7:46am

Anyone seen this yet?  Previews started Wednesday. We're seeing it this weekend.  Really enjoyed his last two shows (Playground Injuries and Bengal Tiger) in NYC

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 5/22/15 at 2:44pm

I'm seeing it may 31st, will be my 4th Joseph play (Bengal, Playground, The North Pool) can't wait. 

[JPeterman]

Posted: 5/22/15 at 5:28pm

Please check in and let us know what you both think .... I am trying to pick a couple off Broadway shows for my upcoming trip. This one is definitely on my radar, as is Ghost Stories, also at the Atlantic.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 7:14am

Saw the Sunday evening performance of this.  Our 3rd Rajiv Joseph show (Bengal Tiger, Playground Injuries and this), and thought it has great potential. 

 

The two actors are great, and the concept and buildup were excellent.  Sets are great (first row might be a problem for some folks), but there was something missing.  I'm going to start another thread about how show endings sometimes leave you unsure of things, and this is a good example of a show that does that.  I hope Joseph comes up with a better ending.  We gave the show a "B" for what was there, and it could easily earn an "A-" if the ending was more satisfying

[JPeterman]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 1:06pm

Thanks for the update

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 5/31/15 at 10:22pm

saw this tonight.

Rajiv is 4 for 4 in my book, such a fantastic night of theater, brutal, stunning and surprisingly funny, the 2nd scene reveal might be my favorite scenic reveal ever, simply horrific. highly recommend it. 

[CurtainsUpat8]

Posted: 6/1/15 at 8:27am

I saw Guards at the Taj yesterday.  It's clear that Rajiv is a very talented playwright. I love the way this play takes place in the 1600's, yet the dialogue is so modern. I also would call this a "Fable".  I did some research after seeing the play to see if the events in the play really happened. They are not really historically correct, but the story is a very popular myth... And so it takes on a "mythical" quality, which works very well.

I thought the set was kind of clunky and boxy and a little bit ugly. It looked like a big garage door. The wall they were standing in front of was really ugly. The set change is startling though, I won't give that away.

The two actors are really wonderful. They are perfect actually. At 80 minutes and no intermission the timing was perfect. 

The playwright is a wonderful voice in today's theatre. You should go see this production. It's a difficult play to produce, I would imagine, because of the requirements of the set for the action in the play. I highly doubt you will see a better production of a very interesting play.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/13/15 at 11:02pm

I saw this tonight and I rather liked it. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I liked it. The performances are stellar. Two truly riveting performances, each of which are given great moments throughout. I thought the direction was really great too. Not sure if she pulled these performances out of them, or whatnot, but I think Morton should be credited for the great work she created. I liked the design. It does work like a garage door, but when the lights hit that wall, it's pretty beautiful, and the reveal is every bit as great as people have said. We had one lady flee the audience tonight. It's 80mins - it felt longer - only because I couldn't tell what was the last, final scene. I thought it'd be over and we'd be into another scene, etc. But I'd recommend it. Nice to see new work.

Posted: 6/13/15 at 11:17pm

Does this deserve to be on Broadway? Should it move?

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 6/14/15 at 12:51am

theres no commercial life for this on broadway unless they recast with bigger names, id say Second Stage would be smart to give it a longer run up town (similar to remounting Riverside and Crazy)

[followspot]

Posted: 6/14/15 at 1:39am

As usual (imho), New York Magazine's Jesse Green gets it exactly right:

Theater Review: Beauty and Brutality in Guards at the Taj

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/14/15 at 8:54pm

I don't think it would work in commercial Broadway. But if MTC wanted to pick it up or 2nd Stage when they get their new space, sure. It's a small show, but I think it would work fine in the Booth or something along those lines. Would it actually succeed? Probably not. It wasn't even full last night and that was the day after the reviews came out. Plus we had a women flee. So I'd imagine it'd be a tough sell.

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 6/15/15 at 7:56am

Folks flee BoM and HtG all the time.  Maybe with bigger names, like LightsOut says, it could play a bigger space.

 

I agree with the New York review, and Ripped Man seems to confirm my opinion that you couldn't tell when the show was over, which is unfortunate.

[SingingChef]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:47pm

Saw this the other day. Fantastic & riveting. Top-notch acting.