Hir @ Playwrights Horizons

[somechrysanthemumtea]

Posted: 10/27/15 at 9:46am

Has anyone seen HIR yet? I know it hasn't opened yet but I would love to hear your thoughts and comments! 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 10/27/15 at 10:03am

I enjoyed it and found it thought-provoking on trans and family issues. Those familiar with Mac's more experimental work will probably be surprised by how conventional it is in narrative and style. The acting is fairly good across the board (especially Nielsen), although I thought the actor playing the trans brother could use some time to grow into the role. Overall, it's worth seeing, and apparently it's selling very well. A friend of mine who is associated with PH told me they have the option extend through the month of December if ticket demand remains high.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/27/15 at 10:05am

There is another thread

[somechrysanthemumtea]

Posted: 10/27/15 at 10:09am

Scarywarhol said: "There is another thread"

My bad, sorry! 

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/27/15 at 1:48pm

BWW Search refuses to allow Hir as a search term...

Posted: 10/27/15 at 3:32pm

Updated On: 10/27/15 at 03:32 PM

Posted: 10/27/15 at 3:32pm

Updated On: 10/27/15 at 03:32 PM

[little_sally]

Posted: 10/28/15 at 10:15am

I'm not sure if this is now the official Hir thread but I guess I'll post my thoughts on it here anyway. I saw it last night and didn't care for it at all. The acting is all fine, and yes, Mac's writing is very thought-provoking on gender issues, and there are a handful of laughs throughout but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 10/29/15 at 11:36pm

I wouldn't say I flat-out enjoyed it or that it's the best play I've ever seen, but it's an incredibly thought-provoking piece and well-worth seeing. Yes, there is a lot about gender issues in the piece, but it's not a "trans play", so to speak. It felt like a companion piece to something like The Humans, actually- an American family play that felt of a certain tradition but very much about contemporary issues. The first act is quite funny throughout, but for me the second act was what brought the whole thing together- it becomes certainly very dark by the end, but it felt earned and necessary. If this play is about trans issues, it is in the larger sense that there is a new type of conciousness that I think is beginning to appear in regards to issues of gender (which can also be extended to race, sexuality, etc), and obviously these changes are necessary and wonderful, but what happens in the shift from a white/hetero/cisgender male dominated world to one where those types no longer are automatically in charge? I'm still turning over the final moments of the play myself, but even if I can't quite figure out what I think it's trying to say yet, it's a bold, daring play, and I'm happy Playwrights is producing it. 

 

Of course, the cast is tremendous. Kristine Nielsen, as usual, is hysterical and commits more to her character's eccentricities than I think any other actor could. But everyone worked so well together- as disparate as these people are, they felt like an actual family and I completely bought them as one. I'm not sure how people will like this play, but I encourage others to see it- it's worth the visit. 

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 11/1/15 at 1:41am

This was at the top of my list, not only because I am a Taylor Mac fan, but because it sounded truly interesting.  That is why it pains me to say how absolutely awful it was. The seats were uncomfortable and the writing barley reached the level of what I would expect to find in a freshman writing class at Brown. I couldn't get out of the theatre fast enough.

 

if I'm not mistaken, Mac is a NY Times critics darling (like Baker, Karam and Eno)...  I will be curious to see what posotive spin they can come up with to sell this mediocre play  

Sad because if anyone should be able to write about gender issues, it should be Mac... An important opportunity wasted in my opinion 

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/1/15 at 8:06am

cjmclaughlin10 said: "I will be curious to see what posotive spin they can come up with to sell this mediocre play. Sad because if anyone should be able to write about gender issues, it should be Mac..."

 

Hmm, I didn't even think the show was about gender issues, though, but a family drama where every character had a different interesting backstory. It wasn't just about the transgender son. When I saw it with the talkback, nearly the whole crowd stayed and had a lot of interesting back and forth with Mac. So, while this play does turn some people off, it's certainly not across the board...

 

[cjmclaughlin10]

Posted: 11/1/15 at 8:09am

I should have mentioned that I only stayed till intermission then ran out of the building...  Haven't done that in 10+ years of theatre going

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 11/1/15 at 7:06pm

^ annnnnnd you ended up missing all the emotional weight the play had as all the payoff is in the second act.

[feedpuppy]

Posted: 11/1/15 at 11:38pm

cjmclaughlin10 said: "I should have mentioned that I only stayed till intermission then ran out of the building...  Haven't done that in 10+ years of theatre going

 

"

To be honest, i wouldn't value the opinions of people who ran out during intermission, especially for this play the first act obviously was leading up to something more. This is not a perfect play and certainly not for everyone, but as several people in this thread have mentioned, it is definitely thought provoking. I stayed for the talk back too and Taylor Mac described the play as "absurd realism" which I think is a very accurate description. People may get distracted or fooled by the absurdities but this play is full of real emotions. One audience member during talkback teared up when talking about her personal experience. Not every show can do this to people. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/2/15 at 10:57am

Seeing only act one is pretty much all set up and no punchline...

[Kad]

Posted: 11/2/15 at 11:30am

Yes, seeing only half of this play sort of robs you of the point (and a great comic setpiece).

I saw this last week and, despite having a miserable cold, enjoyed it. I don't think it's the best-written play, but in terms of ideas it directly tackles, it is worth seeing. The things it sets up in the first act resolve in unexpected ways in the second, for sure. I also think Nielsen gives a tremendous performance- connecting her characteristic loopy energy with a really dark undercurrent, which emerges as flickers of rage and then finally bursts forth and consumes her in a totally scathing monologue in the second act (she has a line about the reason why soldiers are sent to war that drew gasps at my performance).

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 11/2/15 at 1:03pm

Kad, that was what I loved most about Nielsen's performance. As loopy as she was, the flickers of rage made so much depth to her character- I also was so taken by her pretty cold response to Max about his testosterone in the second act. I actually got to talk to her for about 15 minutes after the performance, and while we mostly talked about the play, I wish I'd asked her more about the character- I'd love to know what she came up with as a backstory for this woman. Plus, Nielsen is just lovely in general. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/2/15 at 3:54pm

At the talkback, he said he wrote it for her, without knowing whether she could actually do it at the time, so that all sort of worked out perfectly.

[Kad]

Posted: 11/2/15 at 3:58pm

I think Nielsen is a brilliant comedic actress because she always has a lot going on under the initial absurdity. It's part of why her performance in Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike was so thrilling.

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/4/15 at 10:49am

Playwrights Horizons in New York City presents the Hir Symposium moderated by Hir playwright Taylor Mac livestreaming on the global, commons based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at http://howlround.com/livestreaming-the-hir-symposium-moderated-by-author-taylor-mac-playwrights-horizons-new-york-mon-nov

 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 11/10/15 at 11:09am

If you want tickets, they just added two weeks...

 

"Production extends two additional weeks through Sunday, December 20

Due to critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced a second extension of their New York premiere production of HIR, a new play by Obie Award-winning theater artist Taylor Mac (A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, The Lily’s Revenge, The Walk Across America for Mother Earth, The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac, The Young Ladies Of). Directed by theater director and performance artist Niegel Smith (Artistic Director of The Flea), HIR is the second production of the theater company’s 2015/2016 Season.

Originally announced to extend its limited engagement through Sunday, December 6, HIR has now extended two additional weeks to Sunday, December 20 at Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street). The production began previews Friday, October 16 and had its official opening last night, Sunday, November 8.

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times named HIR a Critics’ Pick, praising it as, “A sensational play. An audacious and uproarious black comedy in a crackling production directed by Niegel Smith with a daring combination of realism and madcap absurdity. A ferocious performance by Kristine Nielsen, taking her bravura comic persona to savage new extremes.” Hilton Als in The New Yorker praised the trinity of “Nielsen’s pained and profound performance, Mac’s brilliant script and Smith’s sensitive direction.” Adam Feldman of Time Out New York also named it a Critic Pick and gave it FOUR STARS, calling it a “Dizzying, theatrical tilt-a-whirl.” In New York Magazine, Jesse Green called it, “A smart new play. No one in the contemporary theater has better gender-queer bona fides, or a better sense of humor about it all.” And David Gordon for TheaterMania raved, “One of the most dangerous and ambitious works presented by a mainstream nonprofit in quite some time. A remarkable examination of gender and identity in contemporary America, HIR is an audacious, important work that won't be easily forgotten.”"

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/23/15 at 7:57pm

Now extended thru Jan 3. Perhaps this should transfer to the Barrow Street Theatre next.

[OMG2]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 8:51am

You will from me. I called for tickets last week, seeing it this Sunday the pair was $$160. $75 a ticket plus ticket central extra charges. Reviews were outstanding .  Let you know.

[somechrysanthemumtea]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 8:53am

OMG2 said: "You will from me. I called for tickets last week, seeing it this Sunday the pair was $$160. $75 a ticket plus ticket central extra charges. Reviews were outstanding .  Let you know."

Great! I can't wait to hear what you think. It is getting extended quite a bit, but broadwaybelter would you mind providing a link, or have you just heard that as I've not seen any announcement yet! The show looks fantastic, and I hope it an extended life.

And thanks to all who have posted their thoughts!

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 11/24/15 at 8:57am

No link yet, but the PH website has added dates thru Jan 3.