The Anarchist First Preview.

[grumpyoptimist]

Thanx Egg. Prolly won't decide until after flying cross country tomorrow, settling into my hotel for all of 30min before getting ready for dinner and Annie, and post-theatre libations. Which is a long way of saying, I'll probably forget to think about an alternative and see it by default :)

[egghumor]

oh, goody! remember you'll get to say: "I actually saw it!" and belong to a rather small club.

[Mr Roxy]

If it started @8 it would be 75 minutes. Since it started @8:10 and ended @9:10 it was 1 hour. Mercifully that is all it was. Never so let down by a show in my entire life.

[CarrieEmmy]

Hey guys! I do Broadway reviews on YouTube. Here's my review of "The Anarchist". Seems like a lot of us are in agreement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5pX9m7bRWA

[BJR]

I'll never understand this "length of show" complaint. There have been many, many shows with extremely short lengths that not only held their own as an evening, but have stayed in my memory for years. DOUBT, for one, runs 70 minutes.

Now, if the play doesn't hold it's own, captivate the mind, and feel fulfilling in only 60-70 minutes, then that is a criticism for the play and/or production.

Sad to hear this one isn't for so many.

[Bettyboy72]

I thought the running time was fine. No problem with it. I liked The Anarchist and hope people will give it a chance.

[perfectlymarvelous]

I think people are complaining about the length with this one because it feels so thin. There's no character development and we don't get to know the women at all, and there's no real story arc. I think there's merit to short plays that are just a constant build of tension that sweeps us up and takes us along for the ride but that isn't the case here.

[frogs_fan85]

Went to the matinee today and it was 1:04.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS:

I thought it was alright. There doesn't need to be character development as this is an isolated one hour period of time, so it'd be unrealistic to expect them to really change much during that short of a span of time. It touched on a lot of interesting topics, but unfortunately didn't really go into them. I really would have liked to have a seen a second act consisting of Cathy vs. Ann's successor.

[bjh2114]

Meanwhile, did anyone else feel like Debra Winger was playing an older version of Zooey Deschanel with that voice, those glasses, and that hairstyle?

[BorisIgor]

Saw the preview last night. An almost full house who seemed engaged with the story and the actors. Patti has nailed down the role, not sure if Debra has been directed to act the way she does or does she really not have a soul? I liked it.

[Dollypop]

Caught today's matinee. My train ride into the city was 90 minutes (each way) the play was 68 minutes long.

It's a tedious play. It does raise some interesting points but never fully explores them. The house was packed but people around me were nodding off. Winger seemed lost on stage and went up on her lines a few times. Even her blocking is inept. She seems to be moving around the set aimlessly.

LuPone is marvelous. She completely inhabits the character.

"Patti LuPone is the sun, the moon and the stars!"

[Jordan Catalano]

Doesn't LuPone actually have to have a character in order for her to inhabit it?

[Dollypop]

She does. And she does.

[jeffmiele]

I saw it today. I have a lot of mixed thoughts on it I am still processing. But the most interesting thing I got out of it is something I talk with my colleagues about all the time. I work on a college campus and one of my duties is being a judicial hearing officer for students who get in trouble while at school. We try to be as consistent as possible but everyone has different feelings and motivations in their lives. To see it from the parole officer perspective was interesting because I always think how different people would hear the cases I have and vise versa. Even though someones life is on the line, like in the play, or an education is on the line, like what I deal with, people hold others' futures in their hands and the way they go about justifying decisions is always interesting.

[grumpyoptimist]

I saw it last Saturday matinee. According to the iphone stopwatch, I had it at 62min curtain to curtain. Once the reveal happened at the end, I respected and think I understood why Winger was playing her character the way she did. Liked it more than I thought it would. But it would be in the bottom third of shows I've seen. And so appreciate the opportunity to pay full Broadway prices for a one act in previews...

[ErikJ972]

Why does anyone think a right wing misogynist like David Mamet would be able to write two fully realized female characters?

[Knowitall]

Did you notice that the death penalty was never mentioned? Wonder why? It was all about punishment and paying for one's crimes but not with the ultimate penalty. Can't stop talking about the real issues in this play