"The show too often feels swamped by the surfeit and shallowness of its source material…The production is largely unable to breathe life into snippets of texts written — quickly, sloppily, breezily — in the chill isolation of cyberspace. Put into people’s mouths, the words tend to come across as that much more distant…The performance can feel like reading a Twitter feed: So many voices, so many words, but rarely a thought of much consequence or meaning."
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"An emotionally powerful portrait of love and loss, and of individuals coming to grips with both…The production is blessed with a pitch-perfect cast...They have done an excellent job of developing their characters out of the raw material of messaging sites…Everything about the production works because everything has been carefully planned...Rises above its non-linear performance roots to tell an emotionally honest and compelling story that sticks in the mind long after viewing it."
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“In theory, an excellent exercise in verbatim theatre. In reality… a mess. There’s no coherent through line, beyond vague attempts at a theme and a symbolic character arc...What occurs, then, is an array of scenes that would be bewildering if they weren’t so boring. Occasional moments of poignancy are created, and the tech aspect of the show is gorgeous, but as an experience for an audience, it’s an awful slog.”
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"Although the production feels fragmented—it’s nonlinear in both story line and dialogue—it does resonate...Without the development of characterization and a story line, however, it’s hard to get a sense of who these characters are...The experience of watching 'Seen/By Everyone' can be disorienting if you’re not willing to leave your typical theatergoing road map of expectations behind. In the end, it offers a thought-provoking experience."
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"This is not a perfect production...The delineation of the assorted dimensions is often unclear, as far as what triggers the change, if anything, and whether the characters are aware of the distinctions and the roles they play in them...However, whether these are purposeful choices or accidents, they do not dilute the validity and efficacy of the show’s journey. The questions raised about life, love, and death are made easier to digest when couched in the fun theatricality of this production."
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"The format of 'Seen/By Everyone' takes a little while to get into, but once you’ve settled into the futuristic digital world of the play, it’s absolutely intriguing...Kristin Marting’s direction makes great use of the space...The ensemble is a gorgeous mix of people of all shapes and sizes that give a voice to all the exclamation points and sad face emojis we read every day...The true impact of 'Seen/By Everyone' comes from seeing real emotions attached to typed sentences we read daily."
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"Like a bad status update, Five on a Match's social-media meditation uses a lot of words to say not much at all...The ten 'characters' who populate the show aren't so much people as mouthpieces through which the detritus of Twitter and Facebook flows...Total self-involvement is not dramatically engaging. The already gimmicky premise is further bogged down by Kristin Marting's portentous direction...Audiences deserve more curating than 'Seen / By Everyone' provides."
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