Review Roundup: OF GOOD STOCK, Starring Alicia Silverstone, Opens at MTC

Manhattan Theatre Club presents the New York premiere of Of Good Stock, the new play by Melissa Ross, directed by MTC's award-winning Artistic Director Lynne Meadow. The limited engagement opens tonight, June 30, at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

The cast features Kelly AuCoin ("House of Cards," Some Men), Greg Keller (Wit at MTC, Belleville), Heather Lind (AMC's "Turn: Washington's Spies," The Merchant of Venice), Nate Miller (Love and Information, Peter and the Starcatcher), Jennifer Mudge (Into The Woods, Reckless at MTC), and Alicia Silverstone (Time Stands Still at MTC, The Graduate).

The three Stockton sisters (Lind, Mudge & Silverstone) are witty, brilliant, beautiful - and a total mess, thanks to the legacy of their complicated novelist father. In Melissa Ross' new play, these women gather at their family home on Cape Cod for a summer weekend. Their reunion ignites passions, humor, and wildly unanticipated upheavals in Ross' raw, poignant and hilarious look at the fun and dysfunction of that thing we call family.

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

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: In the middle of a Scotch-and-tear-soaked session of recrimination and consolation with her two sisters, the kind that begins with insults and ends in a group hug, a woman named Jess sees fit to wail, "I am trapped in a bad chick flick." You said it, Jess; not me. But I think you're being a little hard on yourself. The play in which you are trapped, Melissa Ross's "Of Good Stock," actually feels like a better-than-average chick flick - well acted, smoothly paced, occasionally touching and, for those who indulge in such forms of reassurance, as comforting as a quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream, eaten straight from the container...There's nothing taxing or revelatory about "Of Good Stock." But there are worse ways to spend a sticky night in July than the classic one of sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned theater, watching another family - probably handier with one-liners than your own - wreak havoc with its summer vacation.

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: Hell is spending a weekend with the three irritating Stockton sisters who strut and fret in Melissa Ross's busy but fruitless family drama, "Of Good Stock." Director...Lynne Meadow's production is smartly cast - Jennifer Mudge, Heather Lind, and Alicia Silverstone play the abrasive siblings - and easy on the eye, thanks to Santo Loquasto's multifaceted set of a beautifully lived-in summer cottage on Cape Cod. But everyone in this unpleasant family of narcissists is consumed with herself, and their histrionic posturing is exhausting.

Raven Snook, Time Out NY: In Of Good Stock, directed by Lynne Meadow for MTC, rising writer Melissa Ross...mixes in some laughs and insight, but overdoes it on the tears, clichés and whining. The Stockton sisters-daughters of a late, legendary, womanizing novelist-gather at Dad's gorgeous Cape Cod house to celebrate the 41st birthday of the eldest, Jess (Jennifer Mudge, excellent)...Youngest Celia (Heather Lind, unconvincing) is a flake with a new backwoods boyfriend (Nate Miller) and a bombshell; Amy (Alicia Silverstone, floundering in an underwritten role) is a shrill, weepy bridezilla with an overwhelmed fiancé (Greg Keller)...The play looks great...But although it's presented in a designer package, Of Good Stock is off-the-rack family dysfunction.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: You can smell every cliché in Melissa Ross' new play "Of Good Stock" from miles away, from the family brawl to characters out of central casting: neurotic Yankee division...now Ross is in Manhattan Theatre Club purgatory with an overwritten-yet-undercooked show where emotions are eclipsed by a ridiculously intricate rotating set...half the dialogue feels as if it'd been cooked up by a 60-year-old trying hard to sound hip rather than by an actual young woman three years out of Juilliard...Sadly, these misfires bury the play's genuine kernels of gravitas...the actors are the production's saving grace...Only Silverstone struggles to find the right pitch, but then she's saddled with a stereotypical micromanaging harpy who ends up on a self-pitying, drunk-crying bender.

Matt Windman, AM New York: If there is little plot to speak of besides sitcom-style scenes of confrontation, bonding and heavy drinking, the play does provide full portraits of the characters, most especially Jess, who is fighting cancer and has tried to look after her sisters since the death of their father, a famous author and notorious womanizer. The production (staged by MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow) features spirited performances all around, a detailed revolving set and quite a few cute and touching moments, but it doesn't quite overcome the play's light-as-a-feather flimsiness and predictability.

Isabella Biedenharn, Entertainment Weekly: It's a trope as old as sibling rivalry: A family gathers together under one roof, each member hoping in vain that things go smoothly when, in fact, everyone's long-held grudges will inevitably explode faster than you can say the words "cathartic resolution." Of Good Stock...doesn't stray far from that formula, but fortunately, a laugh-out-loud funny script and a troupe of proficient actors save the dramedy from feeling stale...The casting is nearly perfect here-Silverstone is magnetic even as an engaged narcissist...Mudge is a bit less memorable, but only because her character is...The baby of the family, Lind's Celia, is a lovable, cursing mess...Lind convincingly shows the headstrong, commitment-phobic Celia giving in to the sweetness of her new relationship...Playwright Ross' quips give Of Good Stock the engaging feel of a good sitcom, though the jokes are particularly suited to an NYC audience...the skilled performers elevate a potentially Stock setup to a relatable and thoroughly entertaining experience. B+

Brendan Lemon, Financial Times: Silverstone shot to fame in 1995 as the star of that nonpareil Jane Austen update, Clueless. Ever since, the actor has been trapped in projects that primarily tap her ability to be cute. For most of Of Good Stock...Silverstone's character is thin-skinned...The first act of this evening coasts along comfortably on Ross's ability to write high-level sitcom dialogue. The expert timing of the six-person ensemble...elevates the script to a passably fine summer entertainment...Even at its most cliché-ridden, however, Of Good Stock holds the attention. Director Lynne Meadow is highly skilled at staging this kind of family story.

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Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

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