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Gabriel Reviews
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Serious play that makes you think Review by: penelope2000, May 9, 2010 |
Overall, a well written and well acted play which maintains audience engagement from beginning to end, with no dead or dull spots.
The actor playing von Pfunz offers a compelling portrayal of the irrational Nazi hatred of Jews. Libby Woodbridge has a successful debut on off-Broadway as the naive and outspoken daughter, Estelle. And in the end, despite the personal flaws in all of the various characters, true moral north wins out. ... read more
The only quibble that I had with the play was that the title character, Gabriel, is not well developed. The director chose to go for the more gratuitous eye candy approach - Zach Grenier obviously works out and isn't bad to look at shirtless or partially clothed - rather than attempting to let us see Gabriel's confusion, coping and acceptance in dealing with amnesia.
The play makes you think about what values cannot and should not be compromised even under the harshest of circumstances. I left with my friend talking about these issues.
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My recommendation:
Make an effort to see
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| 2 |
Lost in language Review by: JimB, May 6, 2010 |
This play felt as though it were written by many hands. The direction put a pall on the action stifling the organic impulses of the actors to live a story. It had a rout feel to its choppy rhythm, a single note texture where one moment of every character’s life was equal to their last moment and subsequent moments and all characters sang the same note.
A sense of urgency was never there and the peripheral vision of the characters was ... read more almost never present making me believe the weight of the play was Director forced. This was to be believed a family living under tough conditions during WWII, directly under the evil eye of those “dirty Krauts’” and yet I felt like I was watching a story of a group of women on a farm somewhere in America’s Mid-west waiting for the weekly newspaper to arrive.
Though the writing was swell at times, the forever shine on the verbiage made it all sound trite and more of a narration. Not that wonderful language isn't wonderful; it's that it didn't make all that much sense when the focus was only language and nothing else. I cared little for any of the characters much less could I sympathize with their predicament and their eventual outcome.
This is a play with a tremendous amount of story to be told yet in never lives to tell it. |
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My recommendation:
Go see if you get a chance
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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| 3 |
Thoughtful, Beautifully Written, Well Acted- A Must See! Review by: BroadwayBabySawIt, Apr 25, 2010 |
| Wow - we were not familar with the playwright, Moira Buffini, but we understand from the playbill that she is a rising star in British theater. We found Gabriel to be really well written - unusual for this day and age of all to often disposable material, this one is a classic in the making. It includes mystery on so many levels - identity, name, memory, religion, nationality - and the characters all seem real and true. We were on the edge of our ... read more seats at the end of Act I, and there was lots of lively discussion during intermission as to what should happen in Act II - which did not disappoint. See it for great writing, great acting - including Lisa Emery, Libby Woodbridge and Zach Grenier - and a really amazing ending. Like nothing we've seen recently, and fuel for more discussion at the end, we talked about this one over a late dinner, and we are recommending it to our friends. The only thing we could not figure out is the tilted stage, which means that the stage is at at about a 20 degree angle, and the actors must always feel off balance standing on it, we could not figure out why this is, but this is a minor point. A really intriguing plot, real characters, and great acting - a must see. Bravo to the Atlantic Theater Company for another strong production after the excellent Ages of the Moon. |
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My recommendation:
must see!
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I saw this show with:
Spouse/Partner
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Recommended for:
Business Assoc., Seniors, Adults
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| * Review is an opinion of a BroadwayBox user and not that of BroadwayBox.com and BroadwayBox, Inc. |
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