"The show has potential as a faulty-memory play where the protagonists attempt to reshape their own stories...But this Abingdon Theater Company production, directed by Tony Speciale, is no Greek tragedy. Rather, it awkwardly flits between drama and comedy, and the characters are so cursorily written that the actors are left flailing — the experienced Ms. Tomei can’t dig out much in Dottie besides caustic interjections."
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"A wildly uncertain mix of sex comedy, family drama, and oddball spiritual contemplation, which never gels into anything coherent... Nevertheless, 'The Mother of Invention' goes down easy, thanks to Tony Speciale's smooth direction, and the fine cast...By the time 'The Mother of Invention' reaches its not really satisfactory ending, one has long since realized that it is a collection of plot points in search of a play. It's as muddled as Dottie's mind, on one of her bad days."
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"Containing uneven performances, straightforward direction and clogged with symbolism, it’s a long 95 minutes...There are one-liners galore, wacky situations and a decidedly campy sensibility. It’s a bunch of superficial antics that never really meaningfully connect...Speciale’s physical staging of the action is fine, but doesn’t achieve the heightened zaniness this self-consciously absurd material, striving for profundity, aims for. The casting for these flimsy characters is problematic."
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“Ambitious—if sometimes uneven…A compelling, sprawling comedy that looks at family secrets with an unflinching gaze. Presenting a rare, well-rounded portrait of Alzheimer’s, the show also touches on themes of morality, sustainability, climate change, and the art of dying. It is a smart if imperfect script…At times quite funny and unexpected, the script also occasionally veers into the esoteric, and keeps track of some of the many juggled narratives better than others.”
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"'The Mother of Invention' is hampered by both its attempt to do too many things in a limited space and by none of those things being fresh and/or revelatory. Lecesne, an Oscar winner and celebrated playwright, misses the mark here, being too expository and unfocused. But Director Tony Speciale has brought on a top-flight cast to tackle the emotional fare, and succeeds in rescuing the material, shaping it into a watchable, if seemingly long play."
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"With director Tony Speciale moving things along at a fast clip, there is never a dull moment. But, while there is humor, there is disappointingly little pathos to be found. In a play about moving out and moving on, few of the characters are very moving at all...More tell than show, Dottie talks often about forgetting, but we rarely see her forget. Indeed, she is so specific and at ease that the moral seems to be that Alzheimer’s ain’t all that bad for the afflicted."
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"All rough material for sure, but it’s no matter, as the top-notch cast is so captivating, the moment the lights come up, you’ll forget you’re watching a down-and-out family gradually spiral out of control...Tomei, in a league of her own, offers a powerful performance that truly illuminates a mother’s internal — and external — struggle to survive...Davis and Reed both have you hooked for the entire span of their emotional journey."
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"Dottie may be suffering from severe memory issues...but she seems perfectly at ease chatting about her condition and her children's dilemma. The device is cute for a while but...her being here in spirit, so to speak, quickly becomes a matter of diminishing returns...Well-cast, nicely acted, efficiently designed...and smoothly directed by Tony Speciale. But, given its lack of originality and too frequent triteness, what it lacks most clearly is the magic of invention."
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