Dr. Ride's American Beach House
Dr. Ride's American Beach House
Closed 1h 30m NYC: West Village
70% 58 reviews
70%
(58 Ratings)
Positive
58%
Mixed
33%
Negative
9%
Members say
Great acting, Slow, Quirky, Ambitious, Confusing

About the Show

Set in Missouri on the night before Dr. Sally Ride's historic launch into space, Ars Nova's world premiere explores sexual politics, power, and repression between three friends in 1983.

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Critic Reviews (12)

The New York Times
November 5th, 2019

CRITIC’S PICK "Getting Intimate at ‘Dr. Ride’s American Beach House’: In a witty new play by Liza Birkenmeier, restless friends find themselves challenged by the first American woman in space."
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Time Out New York
November 8th, 2019

4/5 Stars "The route of Birkenmeier’s plot is tightly mapped in retrospect, but full of worthy little detours into character...'Dr. Ride' takes its sweet time to rev up, but it goes the distance when the engine kicks in. It’s a specific and evocative depiction of identity and power at a crossroads."
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New York Magazine / Vulture
November 6th, 2019

"After 80 luscious minutes of conversation, the company somehow has material for a whole nother play, a ten-minute scorcher between Sally Ride (Sieh) and an old friend Molly (Markey)...The play itself just keeps soaring up and up and up."
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Theatermania
November 6th, 2019

"Dr. Ride's American Beach House and the Secret Lives of Lesbians in the 1980s: Sally Ride's historic space journey inspires four women on a St. Louis rooftop."
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Lighting & Sound America
November 5th, 2019

"A conversation piece for four women who take to a St. Louis rooftop…its air of laziness extends to the playwright, Liza Birkenmeier, who -- despite her knack for distinctive dialogue and a certain offhand, off-the-wall wit -- can't be bothered to come up with anything like drama."
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New York Stage Review
November 5th, 2019

4/5 Stars: "A sensitive work by an up-and-coming playwright. Ars Nova, a company that discovers and nurtures new artists, adds Birkenmeier's name to the roster of young dramatists whose future plays can be pleasantly anticipated."
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CurtainUp
November 5th, 2019

"Liza Berkenmeier's historically inspired play offers a meditation on queer desire and repression."
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TheaterScene.net
November 7th, 2019

"Has all the elements of a fascinating drama but as presented by Ars Nova at Greenwich House it is all about subtext and undercurrents which may go right over the heads of many audience members. Little happens but there is much tedious talk which is a cover-up for what goes unsaid."
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