Degenerates Off-Broadway Reviews

Else Went has a real knack for bringing audiences inside the headspace of outcasts and rejects; a voiceover (by Barresi) intoning stage directions and character moods reinforces her stylized approach to storytelling. Her first play, the five-hour-plu...

Else Went has a real knack for bringing audiences inside the headspace of outcasts and rejects; a voiceover (by Barresi) intoning stage directions and character moods reinforces her stylized approach to storytelling. Her first play, the five-hour-plus epic Initiative, followed turn-of-the-millennium high schoolers playing Dungeons & Dragons to work through their feelings about themselves and life’s big questions. Even at three hours (in not exactly comfortable wooden seats at Playwrights Horizons), Degenerates never drags during its similarly immersive dive into contemporary youth culture. That’s due not only to the writing but also to Emma Rose Went’s thoughtful, well-paced direction.

But the thing is, that doesn’t make them unique. And in a week where the news is all about a woman being gang-raped by a bunch of fraternity brothers who suffered minimal-to-no consequences, I want more of the “why”–Why do these men proceed d...

But the thing is, that doesn’t make them unique. And in a week where the news is all about a woman being gang-raped by a bunch of fraternity brothers who suffered minimal-to-no consequences, I want more of the “why”–Why do these men proceed down this dark path? Why does the idea of being labeled “unlovable” become a national concern only when it’s men who experience it? And why should my empathy for them so far outstrip their empathy for every woman alive? Degenerates gives us a glimpse under their hood, but doesn’t answer the questions it raises.

Its downbeat nature and frank sexuality make Degenerates an unlikely work for popularity, but likely second stages among the more daring regional theaters will produce it in the future, but probably not as smartly as staged here and now at Playwright...

Its downbeat nature and frank sexuality make Degenerates an unlikely work for popularity, but likely second stages among the more daring regional theaters will produce it in the future, but probably not as smartly as staged here and now at Playwrights Horizons.

In an achievement for a 100-minute first half, Degenerates compellingly slow-burns toward Target and Miller’s baring of bodies and souls. Target’s soft-spoken seduction and Miller’s attraction are awkward, taut, and filled with psychosexual ten...

In an achievement for a 100-minute first half, Degenerates compellingly slow-burns toward Target and Miller’s baring of bodies and souls. Target’s soft-spoken seduction and Miller’s attraction are awkward, taut, and filled with psychosexual tension. Ostensibly, sex might fulfill them: Miller can reach his masculine destiny, and Target can seal his self-imposed destiny as a subjugated girl (as Miller puts it, “Can’t get a girlfriend? Become the girlfriend”). However, their consummation unlocks a Pandora’s box of self-reckoning — punctuated by the set pieces quaking apart in heartbreak.

Else Went has a sure touch for dialogue and event, particularly across extremely long scenes; she has a precise ear for the sadness under the bluster. And she’s also courageous — if I found it difficult to bear “Degenerates,” it must have fel...

Else Went has a sure touch for dialogue and event, particularly across extremely long scenes; she has a precise ear for the sadness under the bluster. And she’s also courageous — if I found it difficult to bear “Degenerates,” it must have felt hellish to write. It’s a strange play to recommend because it forces an audience to listen to ugly and violent language and then to somehow find compassion for its speakers. But this is the world as it is! Logging off cannot be our answer.