Review Roundup: GARRY STARR: CLASSIC PENGUINS Opens Off-Broadway at Studio Seaview

The U.S. premiere of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins, written and performed by Damien Warren-Smith, is now playing at Studio Seaview through October 11, 2026. The show officially opened on September 8. Read the reviews here!

The classics, stripped bare. Winner of Melbourne International Comedy Festival's top award and 'Best Comedy' at Adelaide Fringe and World Fridge, Garry Starr now heads to New York hell-bent on saving books from extinction by performing every Penguin Classic novel ever written in under an hour, (mostly) naked. Starr takes the audience on a literary adventure through the world's most iconic works of fiction. From “Breakfast at Tiffany's” to “Moby Dick” and everything in between, nothing is safe from being lampooned.

The creative team for Garry Starr: Classic Penguins features director Cal McCrystal and lighting designer Lily Dawford. Hudson Theatrical Associates serves as production supervisor with Seaview's Jonathan Whitton as General Manager.

Brian Scott Lipton, Cititour.com: Throughout the proceedings, whether on stage alone or with others, Starr is a remarkably affable, game and warm presence, rather imperceptibly making the entire audience a willing conspirator in all this silliness and dispelling (as best as he can) any discomfort one may be feeling.

Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: Your enjoyment of Garry Starr will depend on your tolerance for its audacious mode of comedy as provocation. Warren-Smith has a fascinating rapport with the audience: relaxed but commanding, and ingratiating enough to lure the unsuspecting into his NSFW foolishness. Crucially, he never makes anyone but himself the butt of the joke. And his waxed-clean butt is very much on display throughout. He also knows not to overstay his welcome; under Cal McCrystal’s direction, the show gallops through its book shelves in a sleek 70 minutes. You can’t even make your way through CliffsNotes that quickly.

Roma Torre, New York Stage Review: The show, directed by Cal McCrystal, is pure escapist fare. Far from a classic itself, Garry Starr may not be for everyone, but at just over an hour, you can’t quite write it off. And judging by the enthusiastic reception at show’s end, it’s hard to deny there is method to the madness.

Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review: Subsequent performances of Garry Starr: Classic Penguins are likely to vary somewhat according to the whims of the audience, of course, but director Cal McCrystal coordinates some apt, effective sound and lighting cues to enhance this quick series of vignettes driven energetically by Damien Warren-Smith’s comical mad professor-type character. Warren-Smith’s ability to work strategically with individuals as well as a crowd is a treat to witness, although the gamier aspects of his performance will not appeal to conservative tastes.

Elysa Gardner, The New York Sun: If you’re wincing or rolling your eyes, I did both, initially. But to Mr. Warren-Smith’s credit, he channels his inner clown with such breezy wit and benevolence that you may find “Garry Starr: Classic Penguins” charming in its unapologetic, sporadically inspired silliness — that is, so long as you don’t consider full frontal nudity a deal-breaker. Should that be the case, well, don’t say you weren’t warned.

Austin Fimmano, New York Theatre Guide: Garry Starr is trying to save literacy and penguins. Surely if people understand the Penguin Classic books, the penguins and the books will both be saved from extinction. One by one, Garry takes audiences through a series of hallowed Penguin Classics, acting out the plots of literature’s greatest hits with varying degrees of accuracy.

Deb Miller, Theatre Scene: The uninhibited nakedness, from the moment he directly addresses the audience, sets the uproarious tone and serves as the center of his madcap performance. Needless to say, this “classics stripped bare show” comes with a warning: the production is strictly limited to ages 18+ and includes full nudity, along with haze, a rotating and reflecting disco ball, and strobes.

Average Rating: 62.9%