DRY POWDER Previews

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/1/16 at 12:45pm

Got lucky at the lottery and I'll be there tonight! Anyone else attending?

[macnyc]

Posted: 3/1/16 at 3:28pm

Wow! Your luck is running high! Congrats! I look forward to hearing what you think. Fingers crossed that it's good!

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 10:05am

Went to the show last night and it's pretty much a mixed bag for me. The acting is great with the exception of Sanjit De Silva who I found to be amateurish in comparison. Claire Danes and John Krasinski were both great. The play itself it where things begin to fall apart. It's definitely not the most engaging night of theatre because you're basically spending most of the time watching people talk about financial dealings in a very detailed manner. I'm not really well-versed in LPs and IPOs so my mind started to wander. There are some really great lines that cracked me up but the characters are all broad strokes (the boss, the douchey guy, the hard-nosed woman) so you didn't have an emotional attachment to anyone.

 

Thomas Kail does some good work here but there is a sterility to the proceedings that bored me. The set is so obvious that it's eye-roll inducing. There is a blue platform with some blue blocks scattered around to portray furniture. It came across very stereotypically "this is a play about the financial business." Some of the lighting moments were good but I'm really over floor lighting that expands as the actor walks forward.

 

I must say that it's best for The Public that the entire run has sold out before people get wind that the play is really nothing. If you don't have a ticket I wouldn't say you're missing much.

[sorano916]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 11:31am

I saw the final dress on Saturday, and I agree that while the performances were good, the play wasn't about the most interesting topic in the world. I have a ticket for the 9th, which I purchased a long time ago before I knew I was going to final dress. Kinda wish now that I didn't buy it.

 

How was the volume of the actors to you, ClydeBarrow? At times, it was hard to hear/understand Claire and even Hank. Moreso when they had to talk over someone else.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 12:08pm

sorano916 said: "How was the volume of the actors to you, ClydeBarrow? At times, it was hard to hear/understand Claire and even Hank. Moreso when they had to talk over someone else."

 

There were a few instances in the beginning where it was hard to hear the actors if they weren't facing your direction. The main sound issue to me was people walking. Since the mics are on the edges of the platform it seemed like the footsteps were being magnified, especially Azaria. I didn't notice it as much as the play went on so maybe it was course corrected.

[mpkie]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 12:20pm

Thanks for the review! I definitely don't have a ticket but was anticipating this because of the subject matter (and of course the cast). Not surprised at all that eyes would glaze over and brains would shut down over technical/shop speak though.

 

Curious to hear thoughts from anyone else has a FS background or general interest in that subject matter.

[sciencegirl]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 1:09pm

I did get lucky enough to see the show as a friend won the lottery and made me her plus one!  I LOVED this show. It's not so esoteric that someone who isn't very knowledgeable about financial brokers (like me) feels left out of the conversation. Not to say that the dialogue isn't smartly written, which it is. 

Full disclosure (pun intended),  I really was looking forward to seeing the performances of this cast. It was the only reason I really wanted to see this. Otherwise, I would have definitely passed on this show.  

But, I am so glad I did see it. I was surprised by how invested I was in each character (save Azaria's)  Even Jenny who is just an awful person.....I gotta say I loved her.

 

 

[izzio2]

Posted: 3/2/16 at 4:08pm

I absolutely loved it. It's the most boring subject matter made interesting by characters who think they know what they're doing. Everyone is convinced they have the right answer to their problems and they continue to battle. They constantly try to justify (especially Danes' character, holy ****) their ****ed up morals and the way I saw it, Sarah Burgess is vilifying them through comedy. I don't usually like dense business-related dialogue, but I thought they had long enough discussions to allow the audience to grasp onto what they're doing even if you have no idea what they're talking about.

I also thought the closing scene was one of the best I've seen lately--so ****ed up, almost the antithesis of a catharsis. 

[jared123]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 12:36pm

Is there rush tickets for this show?   Or just the digital lottery.   

I'm coming to town next week and hope to catch it 

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 12:39pm

There isn't a rush at the Public when shows are sold out. As far as I know.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 1:27pm

I believe that's true.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 3/12/16 at 12:28am

It is amazing how much I was captivated and entertained by this, and absolutely hated it.

The performances are great and the dialogue is sharp and funny. But man none of the characters are redeemable, and Claire Danes character comes off BAD. It's like somehow a female playwright wrote a Mamet play and somehow managed to leave all the Misogyny intact. I just don't really understand what side the playwright is taking, it never feels satirical enough to make it seem like these people are bad, but all the character are so motivated by the wrong things that it can't be possible the playwright is trying to justify this behaviour. 

[UnwoundFantasies]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 1:17am

Does anyone know what the runtime is? Thanks!

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 1:21am

95 minutes, no intermission.

[UnwoundFantasies]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 3:20am

Thanks!!

[macnyc]

Posted: 3/13/16 at 4:50pm

*************MILD SPOILERS***************I liked it. I thought all the performances were good. But I don't think you need to spend an hour and a half just to learn that mankind is basically greedy and looks out for its own interests to the detriment of everyone else, but I enjoyed the ride.***********END SPOILERS***********

 

As far as tackling greed and financial principles, I think that Ayad Akhtar's play The Invisible Hand, done at NYTW about a year or so ago, did a more nuanced job and had a lot more drama. 

Updated On: 3/20/16 at 04:50 PM

[atuomala]

Posted: 3/17/16 at 11:49am

A bit off topic, but has anyone stayed after the show to see who comes out to sign playbills?

[macnyc]

Posted: 3/17/16 at 12:34pm

I wanted to add that Dry Powder reminded me a lot of Bull by Mike Bartlett, which was staged on a pseudo boxing ring at 59E59 back in 2013. The boxing ring would have worked for Dry Powder too.

[haterobics]

Posted: 3/20/16 at 1:56am

ClydeBarrow said: "There isn't a rush at the Public when shows are sold out. As far as I know."

 

There was a cancellation line today, and when my friends who had an extra ticket to sell got there 10 minutes to showtime, they were told everyone in line got a ticket, so... not really a rush, and I'm guessing full price, but still... they got in on a Saturday night. In case, anyone is interested in going...

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 12:08am

I saw this tonight. I did not care for it. I felt like I was in a nightmare where I had suddenly at work doing my nightmare job with people I hated. The acting was great, but I just got no enjoyment out of watching a play with such despicable characters discussing I find fundamentally boring. Plus I'm sure it was trying to make a point by making these people over-the-top awful but it didn't seem that over the top to me.  For example, the only reason shows about lawyers or doctors are entertaining is because they're dramatized. I'm a lawyer and anyone would be bored still by a show about my actual life. This felt like I was just watching horrible people do their actual jobs. 

 

Oddly enough, at dinner I sat next to a table having the type of conversation I imagined the characters from Dry Powder would have if they went out for dinner. The conversation was so ridiculous I felt like I was listening to a charicature of those people--they actually were more absurd than the people in the play. 

 

I feel like people may enjoy this show who are either actually in this world, or who are so far from it that it seems totally removed from real life. For me, it was close enough to real life to feel like work, but I didn't know enough to actually understand it or be moved/intrigued. 

 

Im not sure this makes sense...

 

the acting was good, though. The set, staging, and music during the transitions felt pretty cliche to me. 

 

But this trip to NY I had dear Evan Hansen, She Loves Me, something rotten, 1776, the Light in the Piazza concert, and Eclipsed. Absolutely loving 6 of 7 sure ain't bad!!!

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 12:31am

Also I agree with lights out that it felt misogynistic to me. Why can't we have a female business person be portrayed as strong and successful without her being a heinous and deplorable person?  They had the constant jokes about everyone hating her--she hated parties, no one likes her, she never had any friends, no one even likes her as a baby. Yet Azaria's character did things that were just as despicable as we didn't see any of that with him--he not exactly likeable, but he wasn't depicted as a social pariah with no life outside work. 

 

And could she say "I apologize" any more than she did?  I'm constantly telling young people (particularly young women) I work with to STOP SAYING THAT unless they really screw up. 

 

I guess the things I didn't like about this just hit too close to home...  I'm shocked this was written by a woman. It doesn't seem to be written by a woman who understands what it's like when people assume you have all those deplorable characteristics Claire Danes portrayed simply because you're a smart, successful woman. 

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 11:40am

I entered the lottery for this, kind of on a whim the other day, and won. I really really enjoyed this.

 

The subject is very much not in my wheelhouse and it definitely took a few scenes of active listening to gather a base of understanding, but I thought it was really interesting once you get past the terminology. I thought Burgess has a really nice way with dialogue and I found the entire evening really engaging.

 

Danes and Kransinski have the meatiest roles and deliver. Azeria is good in essentially the role of the straight man. I really liked the idea of exploring what drives us to make decisions: objective reason or emotion and found that to be a worthwhile theme. And the idea of convincing oneself that victimization is a matter of perspective. I connected more with those themes rather than the exploration of greed and class politics. 

 

Enjoyed the lighting and the set services the story appropriately. Really glad I saw this and got to add it to my tally in what I think has been a really strong season 

[Jshan05]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 11:51am

I saw it last weekend and really enjoyed it. The performances are excellent all around, but the standouts are definitely Krasinski and Danes. The dialogue is witty and the direction is good. The only thing it reminds me of recently is the film 'The Big Short'...it's written in a similar style in the sense that they try to make pretty difficult concepts(if you're not in the financial world) into something a little bit easier to digest. Overall I enjoyed it! Waited after the matinee to see if they would come out to sign, but one of the employees of the Public said they had left right away to grab food before the evening performance.

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 4/7/16 at 12:32pm

By the way, Sam Waterston was there last night. I didn't talk to him, but I heard him chatting with a bunch of people and some of the theater employees. He sounded so friendly!!