THE FERRYMAN Reviews

[LimelightMike]

[BroadwayConcierge]

amNY gives 5 out of 5 stars; calls it "a masterpiece."

[BroadwayConcierge]

Variety is a rave; calls it "flawless" and says, "glorious is not too strong a word" to describe the show.

The Wrap is mostly plot description as usual, but is otherwise positive, calling it "exhilarating" and highlighting Act 3, which is "thrilling."

[BroadwayConcierge]

Hollywood Reporter is a rave; "a mighty play full of magic and poetry," "runs a full three hours but hurtles by in what seems like half that time." "This is rich, full-throated theater not to be missed."

[BroadwayConcierge]

It's a Critic's Pick from Ben Brantley. 

"No matter what sort of spread you’ve planned for your Thanksgiving dinner, it won’t be a patch on the glorious feast that has been laid out at the Jacobs Theater. That’s where Jez Butterworth’s thrilling new play The Ferryman opened on Sunday night, with a generosity of substance and spirit rarely seen on the stage anymore."

[CT2NYC]

The Daily Beast is a rave: "Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman sets a gold standard for Broadway plays." "...a rollicking, moving, enveloping masterpiece." "Rarely is theater so beautifully written, brilliantly acted and directed, and impressively mounted."

[Dancingthrulife2]

Sara Holdren is mixed leaning positive. And I agree with many of her points.
“ though The Ferryman contains many genuinely exhilarating moments, the show itself is like an enormous version of that goose: It works on you, and eventually you start to realize how it’s working on you, the levers it’s pulling, the pleasure centers it’s poking. And its Irishness—which walks a knife edge between robust authenticity and lyrical exaggeration—starts to slip towards blarney.”
http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/theater-review-livestock-and-stock-types-in-the-ferryman.html

[A Director]

How predictable is The Ferryman?  Does Butterworth say anything new?

[TheQuibbler]

The Vulture review sums up a lot of how I felt about the show, especially in regards to the final scenes and Tom Kettle (though I do think she insuiates too much as to count as a spoiler). I enjoyed a lot of aspects of the play, but, like Holdren says, some portions don’t hold up to scrutiny.

[poisonivy2]

Hi I want to see this but am looking at Telecharge. Is rear mezzanine okay for this play? Or is it better to be closer?

[JBC3]

While it might be OK, I think this play really benefits from being seen as close as you can so that you can appreciate the details in the staging and the nuances of expression among the actors as they engage with each other.

[BWAY Baby2]

Closer.

[CT2NYC]

FYI, orchestra M 23-25 and P 24-26 are priced at $59 on Telecharge for this Wednesday 10/24 at 7:30 p.m.

[Eboyd514]

I sat in the rear mezzanine and it was fine. I don’t feel like I missed anything.

[InTheBathroom1]

I'm reading these reviews and trying to figure out what is so special about this play or what makes it good.  Cause right now it seems like it's just gonna be another family drama with a super white and male cast and creative team.  And we've seen so many of those.  And it's almost 3 and a half hours long.

[Miles2Go2]

Eboyd514 said: "I sat in the rear mezzanine and it was fine. I don’t feel like I kissed anything. "

I hate it when a night at the theater passes without me kissing anything. Especially in the rear mezzanine where such things are less noticeable. Jk

(I’m waiting for my delayed work flight and I’m bored. Can ya tell? Lol) 

 

[JBC3]

InTheBathroom1 said: "I'm reading these reviews and trying to figure out what is so special about this play or what makes it good. Cause right now it seems like it's just gonna be another family drama with a super white and male cast and creative team. And we've seen so many of those. And it's almost 3 and a half hours long."

I am less enamored with it than some, but I think part of what makes it special is that everything simply works and works well ... the story, the acting, the sets So often we have had a play where one (or more) of the elements is off and that ends up reducing the overall satisfaction and experience. You really do not have that here. And the women are integral to the stories that unfold.

[Lot666]

Assuming that the cast speaks with Irish accents, is it challenging to understand the dialog?

[Eboyd514]

Lot666 said: "Assuming that the cast speaks with Irish accents, is it challenging to understand the dialog?"

There was only a couple of times I struggled with understanding the accents and that was mainly the kids. The adults I never had any issue with. 

[standingovation79]

Didn’t get it at all. Think the reviews are ridiculous for a play that is way too long and about someone you never see and dont care about...it’s absolutely drull In long patches and in others corny. They could cut the number of characters in half and not change a word. Why he had 14 people on that stage is still a mystery to me. There is no real drama till the third act and it’s not earned at all. DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE ON THIS PLAY. It isnt even In  The top ten that have come to the bway stage in the last decade.

[CT2NYC]

standingovation79 said: "Why he had 14 people on that stage is still a mystery to me."

Because there are 14 people in the family. 

[Jarethan]

InTheBathroom1 said: "I'm reading these reviews and trying to figure out what is so special about this play or what makes it good. Cause right now it seems like it's just gonna be another family drama with a super white and male cast and creative team. And we've seen so many of those. And it's almost 3 and a half hours long."

Have you seen it?

While there are more men than women in the show, the female roles are IMO stronger roles than the male roles.  With the number of dramas scheduled for this season,you never know; but I am expecting there to be more women nominated for Tonys than men in the cast.  

[GlindatheGood22]

I'm seeing this on Thursday. I love Laura Donnelly, so I'm excited. I paid the $59 Today Tix price, which seems pretty enticing before they hit you with the $15 service charge...

[schubox]

Saw this tonight and think it may be my favorite of the season, I saw pretty much every play I could this past week, Lifespan, Mockingbird, Network, True West, and this one hit me the hardest. There are maybe higher highs in a few of those others (Cranston still have the best performance I saw, but I didnt love Network). This was just great, the time flew by and all of the characters and their interactions were fantastic. Glad I saw someone on this board recommend it

[Miles2Go2]

Saw this tonight. My feelings about the play itself are mixed for reasons I can’t quite place my finger on. For some reason I didn’t find the ending the satisfying payoff I needed. It’s interesting because of all the 7 shows I was going to see this week especially the 5 new ones, this was the one I was the most excited for and felt like totally would exceed my expectations. So the fact that it slightly underwhelmed me is disappointing. I certainly didn’t hate it. And I appreciate it and think it will almost certainly win the Tony for best new play unless the traditionalists don’t prohibit to kill a mockingbird from winning. Of course, I haven’t seen that yet. Laura Donnelly in particular impresses me.

Like I said, I didn’t hate it as evidenced by the fact that I bought a magnet and mug. I also bought the script as some of the accents made some of the dialogue impossible to decipher. I hope I wake up appreciating it more than I do right now.

Regarding stage dooring, it has such depressing ending it felt kind of weird to stage door. And most plays don’t have massive stage doors anyway. So the cast didn’t seem like they were super psyched about stage dooring. I also think West End actors don’t feel as comfortable with the stage door experience as it’s not as much of a thing over there. and they really didn’t have it set up for that so I didn’t feel like being super assertive and asking so I didn’t do it. I just left.

It’s also possible that my mood about the play is impacted by voicemail I received during the intermission. My mom had a seizure tonight. She has epilepsy and they have been lowering her seizure meds in hopes that she won’t be so lethargic (which was also increasing her confusion accompanied by her dementia) and apparently they’ve lowered them too low so they have been increased again. So not the end of the world, but it’s always frustrating when she has health struggles when I’m so far away. Even though there’s nothing I can do if I was there

On humorous note, on my way to The Ferryman, a young woman ran up to a man on sidewalk next to me and said “My friend and I don’t know your name, but are you a famous actor?” He said rather humbly, “yes, my name is Dylan.” It was Dylan McDermott. She then ran off. By the way, he is even more smoking hot in person.