Incognito
Incognito
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#1Incognito
Posted: 5/6/16 at 8:08am
This show should be subtitled "Now, You're Talkin'!," because the performers talk up quite a storm: a ninety-minute storm of enervating, irritating ennui. On a drab, practically bare stage, dressed in drab apparel, a game cast of four slides in and out of multiple roles while essaying different snippets of interwoven plot strands. None of it engages either one's interest or attention. The dullness is painful.
Plaudits go out to the to audience for its forbearance.
vitamins
Understudy Joined: 6/15/06
#2Incognito
Posted: 5/6/16 at 10:59am
I found this play fascinating, tough, and quite moving. Yes, there is a lot of talking, and they cover a lot of ground. For it being the 3rd preview, the show is already in remarkably good shape. The cast is tight, they obviously trust one another and Mr. Hughes a lot.
Highly recommended.
LightsOut90
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/2/14
#4Incognito
Posted: 5/16/16 at 10:09am
I'm still digesting this one but overall, I liked it. The acting is very good, and I was very interested and engaged throughout. I was, however, expecting a bit more closure at the end and was disappointed with the ending. Still, this was one of the better offerings by MTC this season.
A little swash, a bit of buckle - you'll love it more than bread.
iluvtheatertrash
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
#5Incognito
Posted: 5/16/16 at 10:31am
I read the play a year ago and thought it was sublime. Was incredibly excited to see it..... And wound up HATING it.
When I read it, I had no idea there were only 4 actors. It read so beautifully as a fully-staged play with one actor for each role. I was so disappointed to learn that it would be performed with such a gimmick. And the gimmick, I think, really hurts the play itself.
Does anyone know if this is how it was done in London? It just feels so lazy and cheap, even if the actors ARE terrific.
"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman
Borstalboy
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/9/04
#7Incognito
Posted: 5/16/16 at 10:34am
Characters talking? During a play?? Unforgivable!
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
PJPan
Featured Actor Joined: 5/6/13
#10Incognito
Posted: 5/16/16 at 11:47am
I love Geneva Carr, I love Charlie Cox, but good lord this play...I think I've realized that I don't like Nick Payne's work. It tries to be scientific and cerebral and, to me, tries to seem smarter than it actually as. I felt the same way about Constellations: even though I found the performances wonderful, I just could not get into the story at all. Payne overuses the gimmick of repeated scenes - which, I understand why he uses them/what he's trying to accomplish - in place of actually developing the characters he's established.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
jbird5
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
#14Incognito
Posted: 5/30/16 at 7:52am
I really like Geneva Carr, but I hated Constellations and especially hated If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet.
I usually try to stay open-minded enough to visit new works by authors I haven't cared for in the past, but these last two plays were doozies.
Will Incognito change my mind or is it more of the same? Is it worth it just to see Carr even if you didn't enjoy the play as a whole?
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
jbird5
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
#18Incognito
Posted: 5/30/16 at 10:44am
Nick Payne wrote the single worst play that I have ever seen, Wanderlust at the Royal Court's upstairs, and I was shocked to see him become a major New York presence. I saw If There Is... without knowing he wrote it, and thought it was pretty poor as well, but at least had great performances. Maybe he his improved...
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#19Incognito
Posted: 5/30/16 at 12:52pm
I had only seen Charlie Cox in "Theory of Everything". His performance in "Incognito"...dear God that man is talented. I mean gorgeous too, but he is an amazing, amazing actor. His physicality when delineating the many people he plays!! When Geneva Carr is the only the third best actor in a four actor piece you can tell the caliber you are dealing with. The play is moving in the same way Payne took a scientific approach to love in "Constellations". It seems he is moving away from Stoppard-lite into his own genre. The play isn't perfect, the main through-line is the true story of a scientist who steals Einstein's brain after performing the autopsy. That doesn't work very well, but everything around it and the connecting stories are beautiful and quite moving.
TheaterGeek37
Swing Joined: 6/17/15
lostphantom
Chorus Member Joined: 1/28/15
Emma MK
Stand-by Joined: 2/28/15
#24Incognito
Posted: 6/24/16 at 2:58pm
I saw this after 2 nights in the Hamilton cancellation line and i seriously thought that i would fall asleep as the first time i did the cancellation line i was only in it 12 hours and yet still slept through most of my evening show (Smokefall) lol. I managed to stay awake however as i was completely engrossed in the play! I thought it was brilliantly acted and as a Brit, i was able to tell where all of the accents were supposed to be from which was nice. The time flew by for me and i was surprised how much i really enjoyed the play as i was going in blind, knowing nothing about the play at all - i only booked to see it because it was cheap lol
#25Incognito
Posted: 6/24/16 at 10:29pm
I saw this tonight and found it to be brilliant, but I knew going in that this was right up my alley. I loved Constellations, and in general I love shows that are both cerebral and emotional. I'm glad i read up on the play beforehand though, as I might have gotten lost.
I didn't know who Charlie Cox was going in - I've never seen Daredevil, and I didn't even know which of the 2 men he was until after the show. So think I can say somewhat objectively that he is giving a really wonderful, stand-out performance. It's an ensemble piece, and the rest of the cast does a very good job as well, but Cox's performance is so intricate and beautifully excecuted.
GilmoreGirlO2
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/13/05
#26Incognito
Posted: 7/7/16 at 12:31pm
I saw this show last week and had quite a visceral reaction to it. I was extremely moved by it and, leaving the theatre, I ended up walking around Central Park for a bit afterwards to calm my emotions. I thought the writing was an excellent mesh of very human characters who I was emotionally invested in and very interesting ideas - and, the discussion of these ideas never felt forced and always felt motivated from the story.
And, whew, all four of those actors are giving spectacular performances! I had no trouble following the different stories and and I felt the actors excelled at not exaggerating differences between each of their characters, but rather, were able to subtly change the presence each of their characters presented. I thought Carr would be the stand-out for me (and she is giving a great performance), but Heather Lind and Charlie Cox were simply excellent in their roles. They are both new to me and I look forward to seeing their future stage work!
I've never seen a performance of any other of Payne's work, although I did read "Constellations" (which I thought was interesting, but didn't really grab me beyond that). I was surprised how much I took to this show and am extremely glad I decided to pick up a ticket.
