Letters of Suresh - Second Stage

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 9/16/21 at 5:28pm

This started a couple days ago at Second Stage. Has anyone seen it yet? I'm a big Rajiv Joseph fan so can't wait.

Just a head's up, you can get $10 tickets (non premium seats) for performances through October 3.

[SpiritualGangster]

Posted: 9/16/21 at 5:34pm

ClydeBarrow said: "This started a couple days ago at Second Stage. Has anyone seen it yet? I'm a big Rajiv Joseph fan so can't wait.

Just a head's up, you can get $10 tickets (non premium seats) for performances through October 3."

Thank you for the info. I'm a big Rajiv Joseph fan as well. Taking advantage of those $10 seats! 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/19/21 at 11:01pm

Just saw it earlier today and I enjoyed it quite a bit!  I have not seen any other Rajiv Joseph works but i thought he did a really great job crafting compelling characters in an epistolary.  The ending maybe could've been a tiny bit tighter, but the actors were great and all the staging/scenic design worked wonderfully.  There's just something about how the play unfolds that makes it a joy to watch, despite its apparent simplicity.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 9/20/21 at 7:34am

Can anyone confirm the running time?

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 9/20/21 at 12:16pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "Can anyone confirm the running time?"

I believe it was around 90 minutes with no intermission. 

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 9/20/21 at 10:49pm

Thanks, Clyde! Could you please direct me to where I can find the $10 seats? I went to the website and the lowest-priced ticket I saw was $50. Thank you!

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 9/20/21 at 11:42pm

i too would like to know about $10 tickets

[TBone]

Posted: 9/21/21 at 1:42am

I just checked and it looks like they’re no longer selling any seats for $10.
I was lucky enough to grab two for a performance in October.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/21/21 at 10:43pm

I saw this tonight and absolutely loved it. It was a slow burn at first but when all of the imagery and characters started to come together it really hit me hard. Rajiv Joseph’s work is always deeply poetic and this is no exception. I grabbed tickets for $10 just last week but don’t know if they’re still offering it. I think someone asked about running time, and I was out at 9:37 tonight from an 8pm curtain.

[CityLights3]

Posted: 9/24/21 at 8:02am

Zzzzzzz. Sorry, this is my first disappointment of the season. Just underwhelming and skippable. There’s poetic and moving and then there’s LETTERS OF SURESH.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 9/25/21 at 3:40pm

I was considering last minute tickets for this last night, but the website said all Friday and Saturday performances were canceled. (I didn't look beyond that.) Now Second Stage has a header on their website "We are sorry to announce that all performances this weekend of Letters of Suresh (Saturday, 9/25 and Sunday, 9/26) have been cancelled due to an exposure of COVID-19. Ticket holders, please check your email or refer to your point of purchase."

Hopefully everyone's okay and they can come back soon.

[Sauja]

Posted: 10/1/21 at 9:24am

Ali Ahn seems to be out of the show for a bit. Olivia Oguma is on in the role of Melody. Wishing Ahn the very best. But what a play. It's quiet and intimate and utterly lovely. Rajiv Joseph continues to be one of my favorite playwrights. His range is incredible, and he's delivering thoughtful gorgeous work here that is deeply humane and moving. I really loved it!

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 10/1/21 at 11:07am

Sauja said: "Ali Ahn seems to be out of the show for a bit. Olivia Oguma is on in the role of Melody. Wishing Ahn the very best."

I believe she has COVID. She was out when I saw it on Wednesday and then they announced that the opening was being postponed because a cast member tested positive. I was actually looking forward to seeing Ahn again but Olivia Oguma was so good! This is the best thing I've seen since the shutdown and highly recommend.

I appreciate that it's a play with "twists" that aren't in place to just make the audience gasp, they actually make sense in the context of the show. Rajiv Joseph does it again. I saw his next play is King James about Lebron which I can't say is of much interest to me.

[Sauja]

Posted: 10/1/21 at 11:49am

ClydeBarrow said: "Sauja said: "Ali Ahn seems to be out of the show for a bit. Olivia Oguma is on in the role of Melody. Wishing Ahn the very best."

I believe she has COVID. She was out when I saw it on Wednesday and then they announced that the opening was being postponed because a cast member tested positive. I was actually looking forward to seeing Ahn again but Olivia Oguma was so good! This is the best thing I've seen since the shutdown and highly recommend.

I appreciate that it's a play with "twists" that aren't in place to just make the audience gasp, they actually make sense in the context of the show. Rajiv Joseph does it again. I saw his next play is King James about Lebron which I can't say is of much interest to me."

 

Agree that Oguma was wonderful. She looks younger than the role calls for, but that's so insignificant when she's giving such a great performance with what I can only assume is incredibly abbreviated rehearsal time as an understudy so early in the production.

 

I don't know that I'd want to see a play about Lebron James under virtually any other circumstances, but...I just really dig everything Joseph writes. If it makes it to NY, I'll give it a chance on the strength of his name alone!

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 10/1/21 at 12:40pm

Sauja said: "Agree that Oguma was wonderful. She looks younger than the role calls for, but that's so insignificant when she's giving such a great performance with what I can only assume is incredibly abbreviated rehearsal time as an understudy so early in the production."

I thought the same thing when she mentioned being 40 but then Suresh came out saying he was 18 so I just assumed real ages didn't matter for the production.

[TBone]

Posted: 10/3/21 at 6:45pm

Saw it this afternoon, and while I enjoyed it, my expectations may have been just a little too high. Thought the cast was wonderful.

Ali Ahn was back in the show this afternoon.

[Zion24]

Posted: 10/3/21 at 7:35pm

TBone said: "Saw it this afternoon, and while I enjoyed it, my expectations may have been just a little too high. Thought the cast was wonderful.

Ali Ahn was back in the show this afternoon."

i have got to get downtown to see this.

[Zion24]

Posted: 10/13/21 at 10:20pm

im glad i saw this but i wasn't enthralled with it. i think Joseph is such a beautiful writer but sometimes his dialogue is too flowery to be remotely realistic and since this show is essentially a series of monologues (with one welcome exception), that happens a whoooole bunch.

but its still engaging, and well staged, and really well acted, especially by Ali Ahn and THom Sesma. 

theater was depressingly empty. 

[MikeyHelen]

Posted: 10/25/21 at 3:35am

Thank you so much for sharing this information.