All of Me

[skynyc]

I've seen a lot of good plays this year.

I loved Mother Play and Stereophonic (I think Tony winner.)  I thought Appropriate was great.  Went back to Purlie twice. 

Awed by Mary Jane. 

Jaja's African Hair Braiding and The Shark is Broken were both very entertaining. 

Laughed at Oh, Mary and Ibsen's Ghost. 

Primary Trust and Swing State both impressed and Philadelphia, Here I Come broke my heart. 

But All of Me which I saw last night at the Signature Pershing Theater Center was one of my favorite evenings of theater in a long time. Two disabled people meet, and communicate via text-to-speech technology. It wasn't on my radar at all until heartily recommended by a friend who is a much harsher critic than I.  

Now I am passing along a hearty recommendation. It's a very contemporary look at class, dating, parenting, and disability. 

I don't want to give too much away, but my fears of stereotypical characters and heavy dramatics were not realized. I was so impressed by the performances of the entire cast. (I only knew Madison Ferris from when she played the wheelchair-bound Laura in The Glass Menagerie with Sally Field (a production which I did NOT enjoy) and Kyra Sedgwick who has been on TV forever.) The production is tight and design fully depicts the differences of the two households. 

I bought my ticket for $37 on TDF three hours before the curtain, and we had amazing seats. Clearly not enough people are hearing about this play...(granted, because there's a LOT of good stuff on stage in NYC right now.) So I am bringing it to your attention. 

 

 

[Marc in Calif]

4 hours ago, skynyc said:

I've seen a lot of good plays this year.

This is very refreshing to see!

Too many of our colleagues in this forum seem to favor the latest "hot" musicals. 🙄

[RyanDean]

Thanks for this resounding endorsement.
I'm hoping my schedule doesn't force me to miss this one.

BTW: I completely concur with your rankings/assessments of this year's banging season of new plays.

[skynyc]

Don't get me wrong, I love a "hot" musical, and see a lot of them as well. (I'm lucky to live 20 blocks from the theater district.) But I like to recommend things that I love that seem to be under the radar.