WHY TORTURE IS WRONG Reviews

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 6:04pm

The Associated Press is Very Positive:

"Chief among the expert performers is Kristine Nielsen, an actress of giddy comic timing, both verbal and physical. As Felicity's loopy mother, Nielsen plays a woman who loves the theater ? she adores "Wicked" ? much more than the reality around her. And her devotion gives Durang the opportunity to tweak such theater icons as Tom Stoppard.

That reality, of course, is off-the-wall, personified by her husband, whose conservative rants and rails are deftly handled by Richard Poe. His barking is just as funny as his bite, as Durang skewers the mentality and the morality of those who would champion torture as a means to an end.

As Felicity, Laura Benanti, a Tony winner for her portrayal of Louise in last season's "Gypsy," is a rare island of sanity in all this looniness, although her character has to remain agitated for much of the evening. Benanti anchors this young woman in an appealing desperation that makes you root for her happiness as she travels through Durang's fun house."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090406/ap_en_re/theater_review_why_torture_is_wrong;_ylt=AseVbxgXa2jNtGcxTgwa0Yg9FRkF

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 7:36pm

Variety is Mixed-to-Negative:

"To enter Christopher Durang's official website, the user is instructed to "Click Liv Ullmann having a nervous breakdown." That image of the Ingmar Bergman muse, frozen in a Munch-like scream, is as good a key as any to the playwright's absurd humor, which has scarcely mellowed in the 30-plus years since he was first produced. It also illustrates his fascination with strung-out head cases, of which there's a fresh handful in "Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them." But while Durang hits his mark in the familiar territory of domestic dysfunction, his political wit is less incisive, yielding a comedy of diminishing returns."

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940012.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/6/09 at 10:25pm

Backstage is Positive:

"Nicholas Martin directs with a keen comic eye, nestling the action in David Korins' perfectly detailed series of revolving rooms. Benanti, the radiant musical-theatre standout who recently picked up her first Tony (for Gypsy), makes for a skilled straight man. Durang regular Nielsen is at her loony best, suggesting in her rubber-faced grace a female counterpart to Zero Mostel. And Poe is peerless in his acid-etched cartoon of a right-wing zealot. The only weak spot is the usually dependable Arison, who isn't convincing as a menacing security threat; he comes off as too much of a mensch.

If Durang's absurdism -- more South Park than Ionesco?hasn't previously been to your taste, this play isn't likely to convert you. But I found that about two-thirds of its jokes hit the mark. Given Durang's joke density, that's a lot of laughter."

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003959649

[autopilot2]

Posted: 4/7/09 at 1:42am

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/theater/reviews/07tort.html?ref=theater

Positive to rave I'd call it.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 4/7/09 at 1:55am

Brantley's review is a Rave, loves the play, a few comments about the cast, but mostly a love letter to Durang's play, even calls it his funniest to date:

Like ?Betty?s? (which until now I regarded as Mr. Durang?s funniest play), ?Torture? places at its center a sensible-seeming young woman to whom the sort of things happen that more typically befall virginal heroines of splatter movies. In the play?s first scene the hopefully named Felicity (Laura Benanti, in a lovely anchoring performance) wakes up in a cheap hotel room to learn that she has married a quick-tempered chap named Zamir (Amir Arison), who says he is Irish and is given to pronouncements like, ?It?s a flaw in my character, but all the women in my family are dead.?

You?re no doubt familiar with this situation. (I mean, from movies and television, not from personal experience.) And for the play?s first few minutes, I feared it might turn into a morning-after sitcom. Then again, there are all those unsettling references to Zamir?s predilection for violence, date-rape drugs and mysterious midnight errands involving money hidden under rocks.

Imagine the relief when the action switches to the cozy New Jersey living room of Felicity?s mother, Luella (Kristine Nielsen), first seen raptly contemplating a flower arrangement. Of course that relief evaporates when Felicity?s dad, Leonard (Richard Poe, deliciously channeling George C. Scott in highest dudgeon), strides in to explain that that burning smell is not French toast, but some squirrels he incinerated with a napalm blaster. He then puts a gun to the head of Zamir, who responds by threatening to use his cellphone to make the whole house explode.

That takes us only to Scene 2, but I won?t describe the plot any further. Suffice it to say that things get really crazy from then on, with references to a shadow government and ominous Supreme Court rulings; a description of the incapacitated Terri Schiavo as the ideal wife; a prim woman in a Republican red suit walking with her panties around her ankles; and people using code names taken from Looney Toons characters. I can honestly say I know of no other show in which a man (played by a priceless David Aaron Baker) gleefully yells, ?Bweak da fingah. Bweak da fingah,? in the voice of Elmer Fudd.
NYTimes

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/7/09 at 9:59am

not to threadjack, but has anyone tried rushing this? the more I read reviews and see pictures, the more I want to see it. if rush is unpredictable, I'll definitely buy a full price ticket, but I was just curious.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/7/09 at 10:54am

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to get a rush ticket -- they have two systems:

$20 general rush an hour before showtime
$25 student rush which you can purchase in advance

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/7/09 at 11:00am

If you're doing general rush, you should probably get there a bit early, but don't be alarmed if you see a line -- remember that The Public has several shows up right now, so not everybody rushing will be there for the same show.

[eduardo2]

Posted: 4/8/09 at 11:26pm

Are there any gunshots, or do they just wave the guns around a lot?

[Tchi4Lif188]

Posted: 4/9/09 at 12:24am

There are no gunshots whatsoever.