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LADY opens to dynamite reviews! Read the RAVES!
Rattlestick has kicked off our 14th season with a bang. Craig Wright’s Lady is drawing strong praise from NYC critics and audiences.
THE NEW YORK TIMES says:
“The tremendously moving “Lady,” about three childhood friends on a hunting trip, says much more about the nature of change and distance and truth. The director, Dexter Bullard, does thoughtful things with silence and stillness, and guides three finely detailed performances. Michael Shannon delivers an almost unbearably touching death-bed-side speech, which primes us for the ensuing emotional battle. “Lady” has considerable humor, but it’s laughter to escape the pain and despair.”
VARIETY says:
“It’s chest-beating time at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, which opens its 14th season with a thumping delivery of what it does best: frontal attacks on edgy material about alienated people pushed to the point of violence.”
On Paul Sparks:
“In a perf bristling with raw energy, (Sparks) taps the wild streak of self-destructive impulses that drives Dyson to do the absolute worst thing he could possibly do in any given situation (…) Sparks makes this volatile figure irresistibly appealing.”
On Michael Shannon:
“Shannon is a straight-from-the-gut actor who finds ways to make Kenny even more poignant. Using his eyes to register bafflement, his stooped shoulders to ward off another verbal blow, his gasping breath to say farewell to Lady, this astonishing thesp turns Kenny from the play’s forgotten man to the reason why it lingers in the mind.”
TIME OUT NY says:
“Individually, Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks are worth catching in anything. So if they’re together in a show, such as Craig Wright’s buddy drama Lady, you really have to go. The two men specialize in a distinct brand of rugged, explosive character acting. Shannon is tall and rangy, with wild, haunted eyes and a mane of hair; he’s scary and vulnerable all at once. Sparks is always true to his name, a lean, prowling spewer of venom and put-downs. Together, they offer a master class in gritty no-holds-barred naturalism. And Wright’s script gives them plenty of red meat to shred.”
“Wright, a skilled, soulful playwright cleverly nests his political angst inside an examination of friendship, fuzzy memories and shifting values. Atmospherically staged by Dexter Bullard on John McDermott’s bucolic but menacing forest set, Lady leads you deep into the dark thickets of male camaraderie turned bitter and deadly.”
BACKSTAGE says:
“… (Lady) is ferociously enjoyable …”
“The acting is uncommonly good, with the friendships feeling actually lived in. Indeed, the first part of the play unfolds so effortlessly under Dexter Bullard’s direction that it’s easy to ignore the tightness of Wright’s structure and how skillfully he sets up the textural shift to rockier terrain.”
“At stake in their expedition is the fate of Kenny’s dog, Dyson’s son, and perhaps the soul of a nation. So the stakes are high. But unlike so many other contemporary writers, Wright isn’t shrieking. He addresses the war abroad and the apathy at home with sorrow and humor. The friendship and feuding may be an allegory about the political tug of war in this country, but, symbolism aside, it’s also gripping drama written with a sharp, sympathetic ear.”
THEATER MANIA says:
Lady is now enjoying a crackling New York premiere at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, thanks to Dexter Bullard’s deft direction and the superb performances of Paul Sparks, Michael Shannon, and David Wilson Barnes.
CURTAIN UP says:
“Wright does a wonderful job establishing his premise, abetted by a crackerjack trio of actors.”
NY SUN says:
“As pointed as the debate gets, this is not a left vs. right, red vs. blue play. Nothing — not in the men’s politics, not in their personalities, not in their friendship — is as clear-cut as that. Dexter Bullard’s fine production and excellent cast make sure of it.”
