"Andrei Belgrader has brought his production of Samuel Beckett’s 'Happy Days' to the Flea Theater, and there are laughs to be had. What’s missing is the darkness and dread that trigger Winnie’s natterings: the panic she’s trying so desperately to keep at bay...She gave glimmers of a deeper, more assured performance. But most of the time, there was no detectable impulse behind Winnie’s need to be heard by Willie, her audience of one, and to know he is still there...There was no poignancy."
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"The show is mandatory viewing, even if you’ve seen it before. Beckett’s plays gain greater resonance as you age and your own particular symbolic mound of earth creeps ever upward...The play is a powerful metaphor for the ways we struggle for happiness despite the inevitable passing of time and the punishments of life...Effectively directed by Andrei Belgrader, this is a superbly acted rendition enlivened by Adams’ fearless performance."
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"The existentialist play is essentially a rambling two-act monologue for Winnie, who goes through daily routines and searches through her handbag while Willie occasionally rises out of his hole to read the newspaper or reach for a gun...If you'd like to see a two-hour play with no plot and little movement that is built around a single visual metaphor, be my guest."
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"Often, productions of 'Happy Days' run out of steam as Beckett states and restates Winnie's predicament, but under Belgrader's direction, the longeurs are few and brief. Most of the time, one is caught up in Winnie's second-by-second focus on the smallest details of living...And, despite the role's weaknesses and oddities, Adams captures the essence of Winnie, bravely, madly anticipating an emotional fulfillment, the possibility of which, if it ever existed, is now long gone, never to return."
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"These performances make the plight of Winnie and Willie seem to be less abstract than they might have once been perceived. The ringing bells that force Winnie to stay awake and alert also pull us beyond the realm of allegory. There is an intelligence behind the torment, as if the pair were undergoing some deliberately staged test of endurance...This production shows us that 'Happy Days' is most decidedly a play for our time."
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"But above all what must reach us, teach and amuse us is Winnie's two-act monologue. It is an affirmation and a surrender to life. Adams, a splendid stage actress who comes prepared to instruct and amuse.... Adams also colorizes the often bleak imagery of Beckett's words without losing a beat or a blink. Hers is a performance that gets better and more touching as Beckett's brand of mockery begins to break through."
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"This piece succeeds or fails on the strength of the actress playing Winnie, and Adams is very strong indeed. She keeps us in our seats for the duration of this grim journey... Whether you sit back and revel in its weirdness or lean in to unravel its many mysteries, it’s an experience you’ll be hard pressed to shake off."
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"Beckett's brilliance often manifests as tedium, resulting in a test of patience and resilience for both the characters and the audience, and director Andrei Belgrader stays true to the minimalism of the concept, allowing the text to dominate. As Winnie, Brooke Adams handles the unwieldy monologue of a script with astoundingly engaging grace and humanity. As Willie, Tony Shalhoub is almost unrecognizable: dirty, almost subhuman, and equal parts fascinating and repulsive in his brief moments on stage."
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