Review Roundup: GRACE Opens on Broadway - All the Reviews!

Craig Wright's Grace, starring Paul Rudd and Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, with Kate Arrington and seven-time Emmy Award-winner Ed Asner, opens tonight, October 4, 2012 at Broadway's Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street).

This gripping dark comedy asks: are we in control of our lives or is there something else at work? With scenes that careen from the serene to the suspenseful, Grace follows a wide-eyed young couple (Rudd & Arrington) as they start a new life in sunny, promise-filled Florida, with big plans to open a chain of Gospel themed motels. An agitated neighbor (Shannon) and a caustic exterminator (Asner) complete the eclectic foursome as destinies collide in this intensely entertaining and suspenseful journey to The Edge of your seat.

The design team of Grace includes Beowulf Boritt (Scenic Design), David Weiner (Lighting Design), Tif Bullard (Costume Design) and recent Tony Award-winner Darron L West (Sound Design).

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "Grace" isn’t as intellectually probing or unsettling as it means to be. It tidily stacks the deck of its central thesis, which concerns the nature of grace as it is visited on inhabitants of this earth. In Mr. Wright’s version the evangelical Christian doesn’t stand a chance…The paradox of the financially beleaguered Steve losing his religion while everybody else finds theirs is laid out as tidily as a PowerPoint presentation. And while all the performances are solid, I often had difficulty in believing these characters as something other than figures in a parable…If "Grace" winds up haunting you, it will be because of Mr. Shannon’s performance. And give credit to those who cast him, against obvious type, as the passive Sam instead of the increasingly crazy Steve...It’s when Sam is allowed, briefly, to imagine things might be otherwise that the dialectic of "Grace" acquires achingly human impact.

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press: The unraveling of Steve is at the heart of this play, and it is a sad and wondrous thing to watch Rudd, the childlike man of Judd Apatow films, go from a smug, big-smiling, self-assured guy to a shattered man whose faith has evaporated and who now holds a revolver…[Asner] has the comedy timing perfectly, not surprisingly, but it's also nice to see his angry side, too…Shannon and Arrington, a real-life couple, are stage animals through-and-through, and we are the beneficiaries.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: Broadway isn’t often the place to ponder big questions, and Wright’s work is loaded with them…A former Methodist seminarian who writes for television and the stage, the playwright makes this weighty diet palatable and stimulating. His careful consideration of ideas could use sharper teeth, but he opens provocative areas for debate rather than sermonizing or mocking...Grace is a peculiar play that won’t be for everyone, and its payoff is definitely muted. But in a Broadway fall lineup stacked with revivals of familiar material, its unsettling mood is compelling.

Linda Winer, Newsday: So much of "Grace" sounds like an easy joke that, when the noose tightens, the surprise cuts sharp and deep. This strangely entertaining, seriously unsettling play...keeps teetering on becoming a glib cartoon about religion. But the actors -- Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington and Ed Asner -- make it impossible to look away long enough to doubt their characters.

Matt Windman, AM New York: Craig Wright's "Grace" makes for an insightful comedic drama that explores religious faith from several different perspectives - at least whenever it's not straining to be a bizarre and awkwardly constructed thriller…Rudd, who is best known for appearing in Judd Apatow film comedies, makes a fine dramatic turn, while Shannon gives an intense performance. But it is Asner who easily steals the show with a monologue relating to the Holocaust.

Michael Musto, Village Voice: Rudd and Asner are terrific, catching their characters' light, dark, and manipulative sides, even if they're at opposite ends of the "Jesus freak" spectrum.
Shannon is great in a scene where he frustratedly tries to get computer help on the phone--he seems to be the heir apparent to Christopher Walken-style quirky angst. But his big matchup with Arrington is dullsville and leads to a Hallmarky conclusion, as does Asner's sad tale...There's imagination at work here and to get dark comedy out of material this bleak is an achievement, but because of its flaws and limitations, I didn't find Grace to be amazing.

T. Michelle Murphy, Metro: Although the most widely known name is irreverent-humor heartthrob Paul Rudd, as the eminent head of the household, "Grace" offers an all-around impressive cast. Kate Arrington plays a dutiful Christian housewife who isn't as well-drawn as the men but aptly demonstrates the paradox of virtue. Michael Shannon is subtly show-stealing as a disfigured and disenchanted NASA scientist...Multiple Emmy-winner Ed Asner, back onstage for the first time in more than two decades, only has two brief scenes as a pest-control technician — but they're the two that perhaps most characterize the message of "Grace." Together, the four actors exude as much presence as a larger ensemble thanks to their conviction and expertly allotted energy.