Killing Time
Closed 1h 30m
Killing Time
68%
68%
(12 Ratings)
Positive
50%
Mixed
50%
Negative
0%
Members say
Great acting, Thought-provoking, Slow, Disappointing, Intelligent

About the Show

This new, spiky dark comedy, which was inspired by an original cello composition and features live cello throughout, explores inspiration, music, life, and the right to die.

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Critic Reviews (11)

BroadwayWorld
April 29th, 2019

"This well-crafted dark comedy keenly addresses end of life issues...Brigit Forsyth's performance as Hester Brooke is outstanding...The Creative Team has done a wonderful job of setting the scene for 'Killing Time'...'Killing Time' is being presented in the intimate Theater B, an ideal, space for the show. Metro area audiences will be entertained and moved by this compelling production."
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Lighting & Sound America
April 26th, 2019

"Sara is a bit of a train wreck, and, for her character to make any sense, she would need far more exploration than she gets here. This is rather strange, since Mills, the playwright, also plays Sara, so she has no one but herself to whom she can complain about her thinly written role...The director, Antony Eden, is hard-pressed to make anything of this uneventful dramatic endgame...It's a cup of weak tea when something far stronger is indicated."
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TheaterScene.net
April 26th, 2019

"This British production is a family effort, as Forsyth and Mills are mother and daughter in real life. The play is worth seeing primarily for the sharp and uncompromising performance of Forsyth, whose blunt-talking, often-witty Hester is a joy to watch, even in her darkest moments. The production also uses Forsyth's skills as a cellist-and as a composer-to great effect."
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Theatre's Leiter Side
May 2nd, 2019

“While it contains the seed of a promising drama, and a sharply crafted performance…, too many of its 90 minutes do little more than mark time…Eden's low-key, slow-paced production, too rarely enlivened by humor, does little to ignite our concern. Mill's episodic play is simply too talky and desultory, large swaths of it little more than Hester's depressing soliloquies...If there's any reason to kill time at 'Killing Time' it's to see Brigit Forsyth's believable portrait of a dying artist.”
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Wolf Entertainment Guide
April 26th, 2019

"Forsyth gives a feisty performance as Hester Brooke...What keeps Mills’ play going is the acting. Forsyth communicates Hester’s concerns about what her life has meant, and morbid humor is mined when Sara reads Hester a pre-prepared obituary...This is a slight work, but the intimacy with the closely-seated audience and the acting intensity of Forsyth and Mills keep things rolling in a manner that makes us question the course of mortality."
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Plays to See
May 6th, 2019

“A poignant look at death and our legacy in world that can’t live up to the fantasies prescribed in our literature, our movies, and the internet. However, at times the sardonic humor so typical of British comedy can fall a little flat. This does not appear to be the fault of the delivery, but rather that the lines are a bit too scripted...’Killing Time’ is an at times thought-provoking, at times funny 90 minutes that leaves you with an uncomfortable balance of depression and hope.”
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The Stage (UK)
February 9th, 2017
For a previous production

"Stuff happens. An old friend dies. Sara gets drunk. Hester plays the cello. Revelations spill out. But it always feels as if these are excuses for Mills to philosophise uninspiringly about death, about music, and about legacy. There’s never a palpable sense of drama or jeopardy, just a long, meandering, morbid conversation strung out over 90 minutes...The whole thing ends up an unconcluded muddle, grasping for a trite kookiness that never materialises."
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L
February 9th, 2017
For a previous production

"It is unusual to see such a non-patronising and well-considered portrayal of an old spinster. There’s humour in the play, but it’s not from the traditional ‘old-therefore- stupid’ school of thought. It’s from a mind that remains sharp to the end...While a lot of topics are covered in this play, it doesn’t feel like the kitchen sink has been thrown at it. Hester’s forthrightness is refreshing, keeping what is, essentially, a slow-moving narrative somewhat intriguing."
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