"The Trees" at Playwrights.

uncageg Profile Photo
uncageg
#1"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/22/23 at 10:14pm

Has anyone seen this yet?

I am interested but keep going back and forth on buying a ticket. Read the writer the creatives essays about the play and not quite sure what to expect.

Would love to hear thoughts on the play from anyone who has seen it.


Just give the world Love.

Broadway Flash Profile Photo
Broadway Flash
#2"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/22/23 at 10:22pm

Very long with no intermission. It’s cute, but eh

JoeW4 Profile Photo
JoeW4
#3"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:06pm

I agree it was cute and amusing, with a sort of warm charm, but didn’t really come together. Circles around some interestingly themes and ideas without really committing to any of them. Overall I’m glad I saw it, but I wouldn’t call it a must-see.

uncageg Profile Photo
uncageg
#4"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:46pm

JoeW4 said: "I agree it was cute and amusing, with a sort of warm charm, but didn’t really come together. Circles around some interestingly themes and ideas without really committing to any of them. Overall I’m glad I saw it, but I wouldn’t call it a must-see."

 

Thanks for a bit more detailed response. What was the run time?

 


Just give the world Love.

Broadway Flash Profile Photo
Broadway Flash
#5"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:51pm

My performance started at 2:30 and we didn't get out until 4:40.  So it was more than 2 hours without intermission.  It's in previews mind you.

chrishuyen
#6"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/23/23 at 12:06am

This was fairly disappointing to me.  I couldn't tell if it was trying to say something specific or act more as a slice of life piece, and I agree that it has some interesting moments but they don't go anywhere satisfying.  Some of the characters are written with fairly broad strokes and it was also pretty difficult for me to discern the relationships between some of the characters, so if this was meant to be an exploration of community amongst the different characters, I never felt like I was really seeing that because my impression of each character kept shifting.  There seemed to be a few people in my audience (last Tuesday) who really enjoyed it, but it was just not for me.

uncageg Profile Photo
uncageg
#7"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/23/23 at 12:09am

Broadway Flash said: "My performance started at 2:30 and we didn't get out until 4:40. So it was more than 2 hours without intermission. It's in previews mind you."

 

That's long.

So there are references to the Jewish community in the essays. There is also a reference to the queer community. I am just wondering how the two play into the story.

 


Just give the world Love.

chrishuyen
#8"The Trees" at Playwrights.
Posted: 2/23/23 at 12:18am

uncageg said: "So there are references to the Jewish community in the essays. There is also a reference to the queer community. I am just wondering how the two play into the story."

One of the major characters is a Rabbi, another character is a member of his congregation.  I think there's some talk of the Jewish community as well but doesn't go super into depth.  Another two of the major characters are a queer couple, and there was one that almost seemed bicurious (but this was one of the confusing relationships I mentioned).

JoeW4 Profile Photo
JoeW4
#9
Posted: 2/23/23 at 12:21am

uncageg said: "So there are references to the Jewish community in the essays. There is also a reference to the queer community. I am just wondering how the two play into the story.

"




The play starts with 2 people suddenly becoming rooted into the ground like trees, and basically the play is about a kind of found-family community forming around them. So there's a wide array of characters who join together and form a kind of "ecosystem" around the "trees." Several of the characters are queer, and one of the characters is a rabbi.

Also, I saw the play this past weekend and it was definitely only 1h40 minutes, maybe 1h45m, but definitely not over 2 hours. Updated On: 2/23/23 at 12:21 AM

Theater3232
#10
Posted: 2/23/23 at 7:52am

It's basically a slow-moving acting exercise, not really a theater show. Many are making their off-Broadway debuts here and it shows thru unconvinving forced acting. I loved their last show about the people on parole living in the house, but found this a tedious bore.  My show started 12 minutes late and ended 1hr45min after, and we were told walking in the runtime was 2hrs, which ended up being true. I'd recommend A Bright New Boise down the block instead, as its 90 minutes fly by.


Videos