“This dispiritingly predictable portrait of incompatible brothers is truly surprising only in its failure to surprise...Directed with Teflon smoothness...This 90-minute work is so conventionally and efficiently set up and structured, providing full and expected delivery on every teasing promise of things to come, that it might serve as a basic blueprint in a Theater 101 class...The thoroughly professional cast does as well as can be expected with roles that rarely engage our sympathy.”
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“In a quietly explosive 90 minutes, the play explores the difficulty of letting go of the past, and how seemingly small cracks in relationships can lead to foundation-shattering destruction...Sullivan has assembled a superb cast. Parisse excels as the tightly wound Molly, Tergesen shifts from charming rascal to cruel ne’er-do-well with ease, and Wolff is endearing as a young man deeply affected by the secrets of his elders. But the standout performance comes from AuCoin, who is riveting."
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“Both siblings excel at this tame game of fraternal warfare...The problem is, Margulies gives us little context for this edgy interplay between brothers...The characters are well-drawn and well-spoken. But because there’s nothing seriously at stake here, their quarrel shapes up as being largely about language itself. How to make words hurt. How to slap someone in the face with a slur...Margulies has a great ear, but lacking credible context, language is only pretty talk.”
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“The cast is first-rate...The problem is with the play...The shoehorned profusion of melodramatic plot twists feels more appropriate for a season-long daytime soap...Such plot machinations and familial themes are a hallmark of many of the playwright's previous works, but they're handled here with an uncharacteristic lack of finesse...’Long Lost’ is never really boring...It's just a shame all this top-notch effort has been put into a play we feel like we've seen."
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"It lacks original insights and compelling theatrics, and ends with an unsurprising, ‘had to be done’ conclusion. There have been better plays about this subject matter, and Margulies has written some of them...Sullivan's production doesn't do the play's questionable dramaturgy any favors, either. His staging actually compounds the bigger problems I had with the unfocused script — namely, its underdeveloped characters and lack of a discernible protagonist."
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“A black-sheep drama that, at first glance, looks like yet another tour through a familiar landscape of domestic dysfunctions. Yet, under Sullivan's taut direction, the questions it poses look increasingly knotty; before long, one starts to appreciate how the playwright has wrought a domestic miniature that has much to say about the way we loathe now...Sullivan's cast of four is highly skilled at these tribal war games.”
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“Margulies has long demonstrated his ability to devise compelling characters in dramatic situations. Margulies begins in similar fashion in his new play, but before he long loses his way...If there are problems with the writing, AuCoin, Wolff, Parisse, and Tergesen each make a good case for their characters. Manhattan Theatre Club has provided a typically expert production under the direction of Daniel Sullivan."
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“Although ‘Long Lost’ has been composed by Margulies with his typical craftsmanship, this story of a troublesome black sheep lacks originality and suspense...While the play is smoothly rendered by experienced hands, there is no reason why this terribly inert drama should be produced at all except that a distinguished artist such as Margulies wrote it. Too bad that the playwright did not have the insight to shelve it and save everybody a lot of wasted effort.”
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