“The director, Myriam Cyr, and three solid performers make us part of the channeling, breathless and hopeful. There is also fine lighting work by John R. Malinowski, manipulating our reactions to the spookiness...Too bad this 90-minute play’s ending is such a letdown. Toward the end, it starts speeding toward a resolution that you can tell is going to be all too pat."
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"The play jumps the track and mainly becomes a platform for a very long and convoluted monologue in which James becomes the portal for a vengeful Simon's Karmic path, or rather more likely Schaffer's interdisciplinary discourse on the unity of all consciousness…You have to hand it to the actors who take it all very seriously and with every intention to make us care about their characters' souls in flux through the millenniums. What a treat it is see the always wonderful Murray."
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"How much you like Mat Schaffer’s new psychic thriller, 'Simon Says', will depend on how you feel about the paranormal and reincarnation. If you are open to suggestion, you will go with its premise. If not, this is not for you."
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"A contemplative discourse on science, the paranormal, reincarnation, and the connections between us…There are moments late in the play that feel both overstuffed and rushed, demonstrating that subjects such as past lives, existence, and souls are very hard to dramatize in a captivating way. That being said, the trio nimbly navigates through the somewhat murky waters...The play didn’t entirely gel for me, but it was nonetheless largely engaging."
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“Myriam Cyr’s production boasts an air of clean professionalism to complement Murray’s dignified performance style but Schaffer’s play is an uninspired and mawkish exploration of mysticism that never thrills the way that witnessing a live seance should...The collective talents of the cast and crew would be better utilized in a more suspenseful and less eye-rollingly sentimental channeling of the spirits.”
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“Although pacing was slow during the first scene, director Miriam Cyr’s staging moves the story along and makes nice use of the intimate space...Mr. Goes does a brilliant job of inhabiting numerous characters with distinct vocal and physical lives...Brian Murray is a marvel, his presence on the stage riveting...Here’s hoping there are more roles waiting in the wings for Mr. Murray. He is a national treasure!”
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"Potentially interesting but dramatically dull play...Director Myriam Cyr hasn’t done much to channel this material from page to stage; the pacing is flat and the acting—despite several outbursts—lacks tension. Brian Murray still possesses the intelligence and charm that has made him a three-time Tony nominee, but he's going on 79 and, if I may use a baseball metaphor, has lost some bat speed."
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"For a while, 'Simon Says' looks as if it’s going to be fun…Then, with James going into his complicated trance, the enjoyment begins leaking out...'Simon Says' turns into a tour de force for Goes as James. He twitches, he writhes, he tumbles, he switches voices, he falls, he goes numb, he looks if he’s dead…The channeler’s cavorting is initially engaging, then sillier and sillier until, finally, it’s no more than tiresome. By fade-out, it hasn’t delivered any substantive point at all."
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