"You might expect Mr. Lonergan to have a natural affinity for obsessive, self-sabotaging people. And so it proves with 'Darling,' a poignant comic study of the bad faith and bad behavior of a narcissistic celebrity and those around him...all given vibrant life by the director, Neil Pepe, and a cast that finds the individual quirkiness in everyday stereotypes...Although this production could still be trimmed by 10 or 15 minutes, the strength of 'Darling' is in its loquacity."
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"'Hold on to Me Darling' is almost defiantly overwritten and leisurely in its handling of character and plot...But even when Lonergan’s not sure of the way, he’s so damn fun to follow. His dialogue is sharp and funny, and his characters slip easy judgment...Neil Pepe’s perfectly balanced production on a revolving set by Walt Spangler makes virtues of the script’s woolier byways, and he gets rich, firmly grounded work from the ensemble. Strung out though you may feel, you won’t want to let go."
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"Very little of 'Hold On to Me Darling' is funny, though, and not just because these subjects are so well picked over; the tone is too wobbly, and the pace too languorous, for its teeth to gain any purchase on skin...Olyphant has the requisite charm and muscles but spends most of the play leadfooting the accelerator, trying to make it go. Despite this, and the valiant work of the rest of the cast, it doesn’t. I can’t think that’s because the play needed more thought; probably it needed less."
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"Exceedingly well directed by Neil Pepe, in which Lonergan blends satire with strong, straightforward emotion to complex and poignant effect...Mr. Lonergan knows what he’s doing, and by evening’s end he has successfully negotiated the tricky transition from raucous comedy to total sincerity...Lonergan’s ear for dialogue is, as always, eerily true, and so is his knack for leavening dead-serious moments with touches of dry comedy...Beautifully performed."
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"Remember the scene in Robert Altman’s 'Nashville' when Keith Carradine sings 'I’m Easy' and the camera cuts to the faces of every woman in the audience certain he’s singing it to her? That’s Strings...Pepe has staged the longish evening with an ear for the nuance of Lonergan’s speeches that keeps the whole thing from collapsing. It’s all very funny, but Altman accomplished much the same impact in that single, memorable sweep of another unwitting Nashville fan base."
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"His new Off-Broadway comedy-drama 'Hold On to Me Darling' about a rudderless celebrity is flecked with laughs and some terrific acting but the nearly 3-hour play suffers from aimlessness of its own...Also nagging is Olyphant’s lead performance. He’s an actor with impressive credits but radiates such little star power as Strings. Between his acting, the script and direction by Neil Pepe, this singer is one-note and the play loses sharp focus...Wish Lonergan’s new play gave us more to hold onto."
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"If he wasn’t played with such honeyed charm and awe-shucks sincerity by Timothy Olyphant, this show, clocking in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, would be one long, achy-breaky night. But Olyphant’s return to the stage is a stunner, striking just the right notes of guilelessness, obliviousness and narcissism...The play is entertaining and engaging, performed by a top-rate ensemble and directed with finesse by Neil Pepe, but its long reach for political and social resonance is a stretch."
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"There's a much better play nestling in the almost three hours of 'Hold On to Me Darling', but Lonergan seems unwilling to find it, leaving most of the poignancy buried between his disjointed scenes...The chief compensation in this premiere is very funny dialogue performed by a fine cast. Neil Pepe's direction brings a light touch to the material that maximizes the laughs, but it also confines this portrait of a crossover country superstar's existential crisis to shallow depths."
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