See it if You're interested in an honest, challenging look at how relationships strengthen and erode. Incredible writing and acting.
Don't see it if you're looking for a large or elaborate production, the staging is minimal here, and it makes the performances all the more potent. Read more
See it if you want to see a smart, engaging play that deals with complicated issues in a gay relationship, with excellent acting.
Don't see it if you want a play with a traditional narrative structure, or traditional staging.
See it if drama about relationships
Don't see it if gay themes
See it if you want to see incredible acting by Michael Urie and Robin De Jesus with themes of love and acceptance
Don't see it if you want an easy-to-understand story that would hold up with lesser actors or if bad sight lines would bother you
See it if You enjoy shows depicting a very typical gay NY experience as societal norms change through the years.
Don't see it if You are uncomfortable with graphic sex portrayed on stage. You have no interest in the problems that gays face in their daily interactions.
See it if you want to see a show that accurately portrays a modern homosexual relationship.
Don't see it if you can't handle a little raunch and R-rated humor.
See it if you are interested in plays that chronicle relationships and if you like jumping timelines. Robin de Jesus and Michael Urie were fantastic.
Don't see it if you have a difficult time following shows when the timeline jumps around or if you don't want to see discussion of a hate crime.
See it if You're a gay man who appreciates drama reflecting real life, or someone who appreciates all kinds of romantic dramadies.
Don't see it if You aren't interested in listening to the ins and outs of a relationship between two young, gay men.
"A daringly frank, funny and affecting new play...The zesty writing, which is often choppy and fragmented but always natural, is given an energizing boost by the superb performances...The play’s complex structure can be a little jarring at first...May make audiences with no taste for the detailed discussion of gay sex—or any sex, for that matter—uncomfortable...But set aside the bedroom talk...and the play is fundamentally about the problems inherent in any romantic relationship."
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"This structure has the benefit, at least for a while, of keeping you attentively confused, as you try to figure out what is happening and when. Mike Donahue’s staging adds to disorientation...Affecting moments emerge. Urie and De Jesús, two of the city’s most charming actors, don’t just twinkle but spark...But there’s a lot more going on in 'Homos'—in some ways, too much...Although Seavey offers plenty of sharp reflections, the plot sometimes gets lost in the maze of broken mirrors."
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"This fascinating and fearless new play brims with universally recognizable emotions, even if they are dressed up in very culturally specific drag...With an eye for nuance and an ear for urban vernacular, Seavey explores the dynamics of modern gay life...The proximity of exposition to climax allows for some rather cruel foreshadowing...Thanks to airtight staging by director Mike Donahue, the play keeps it up until the very end...Even if we get lost, we always find our way back."
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"‘Homos’ tracks a relationship in almost Cubist fashion, taking the key moments in a gay love affair, scrambling them, and presenting them to us in tantalizing fragments…Under the direction of Mike Donahue, both actors nail their roles, leaping from one emotional landscape to another with ease…Years from now, if someone wants to know what it was like to be young, gay, and in love in the first years of the 21st century, 'Homos' will offer a most revealing glimpse."
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"It’s a mostly excruciating exercise in hollow glitziness...The exploration of gay relationships is certainly dramatic material but not in this treatment...Urie and De Jesús do deserve credit for effortlessly delivering the huge amounts of verbiage. Unfortunately, their performances are as grating as the play is...'Homos, or Everyone in America' craves to make grand statements on contemporary gay life. Due to its flashiness, superficiality and self-importance, it totally fails at this."
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"Its concise, shortened dialogue feels so forced here that it betrays the form, contradicting its purpose to reflect the fractured nature of ordinary speech. Instead the language takes on a disjointed quality that betrays the performances of Urie and De Jesús, each moment feeling disconnected in service of the annoying poetry...Despite this, 'Homos' remains mostly agreeable until it is betrayed by an ending that feels of a different time and era...The payoff feels wrong; the drama unnecessary."
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"Gay equality in America is not a new topic in theater, but it’s brought to new intensity by playwright Jordan Seavey...The writing is laden with much wry humor...Urie maintains his boyish engaging charm...De Jesús, an equally fine actor, raises our compassion quotient. The writing style is fast, furious and frantic; scenes moving back and forth in time, somewhat confusing. The director, Mike Donahue, uses the small space to its max, which heightens the impact."
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"The space and the play are a match made in heaven...The script does need some editing...Seavey does a magnificent job of creating two whole, rounded individuals, using sparse, overlapping dialog. And both Urie and De Jesús do a masterful job...Because of the structure of the play, we are forced to absorb and feel, and importantly, ultimately, identify before judging...We get an emotional investment in the unfolding relationship that we wouldn’t have otherwise received."
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