Review Roundup: SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS Opens Off-Broadway

Ars Nova presents the world premiere of Small Mouth Sounds, a new play by Bess Wohl, directed by OBIE Award-winner Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), as part of its 2015 season. A limited Off-Broadway engagement is slated to run now through April 11 at Ars Nova (511 West 54th Street). Official Opening Night is tonight, March 23.

Small Mouth Sounds features Jessica Almasy (A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes), Marcia DeBonis (Television: "Homeland"), OBIE Award-winner Jojo Gonzalez (The Romance of Magno Rubio), Brad Heberlee (This Beautiful City), Sakina Jaffrey (Television: "House of Cards"), Erik Lochtefeld (Metamorphoses) and Babak Tafti (The North Pool).

In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward humor, this strange and compassionate new play asks how we address life's biggest questions when words fail us.

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

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: A half-dozen troubled souls find that enforced silence doesn't necessarily bring inner peace in "Small Mouth Sounds," an enchanting new play by Bess Wohl presented at Ars Nova. As funny as it is, uh, quietly moving, Ms. Wohl's play is also a model of ingenuity. During its 100-minute running time and with one exception - the (unseen) guru running this spiritual retreat - the characters hardly ever speak. Both the humor and the pathos spring mostly from wordless interaction, which is testimony to Ms. Wohl's intrepid writing, to the superb acting and to the precise work of the production's director, Rachel Chavkin.

Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News: Bess Wohl's wry and observant "Small Mouth Sounds" is long on emotions and short on words - very short...There's nothing new about strangers with problems being tossed together...But turning off the volume turns up your attention span in this play, which was inspired by Wohl's trip to a New Age getaway. We watch intently for clues about who these people are...They all touch each others' lives in various ways. There are unspoken arguments, sweet gestures of support, seductions and emotional letdowns. Just when you think you get it, there's a twist. Not every revelation holds water. The unspoken passages, as well as occasional speeches, help us discover what's going on in these people's lives: illness, divorce, death in the family and more. But in the end, the message is clear: Everybody's life is messy. You don't need words to know that.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: Action generally speaks louder than words - but silence says even more in "Small Mouth Sounds," Beth Wohl's wonderful, perceptive new play. Six strangers meet at a spiritual retreat on a woodsy campus. In search of enlightenment, they sleep on thin mats and meditate. But above all, they must refrain from speaking...Under the precise, empathetic direction of Rachel Chavkin...the actors brilliantly uncover the characters' quirks and foibles...The intimacy of the staging...only sharpens the humor of strangers forced into closeness.

Jenna Scherer, Time Out NY: Bess Wohl's luminous new play uses silence to dig into the core of human pain, which, like everything unendurable, can also be very funny...Director Rachel Chavkin, who's demonstrated her flair for excess and romance in the wonderful Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, proves that she's every bit as up to the task of minimalist realism with this minutely realized production. The devil is in the details, and the excellent ensemble speaks volumes with a long look or the frantic unwrapping of a hard candy. The play asks-and admirably never quite answers-deep questions about how we connect with other people, a feat that the characters achieve through channels both profound and silly. Wohl isn't afraid to let the ridiculous rub up against the sublime, and it makes Small Mouth Sounds as entertaining as it is transcendent.

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