Extra! Extra!

Reviews of two fine, surly satires in this week's Time Out New York: Bruce Norris' blistering The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons; and downtown hellraiser Young Jean Lee's Korean-American travesty Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven. See both if you can.

Comments

[jaime]

Amen on your Songs of the Dragons review. I saw it last Monday, and I'm so glad it's getting such enthusiastic reviews. I thought it was great, and really think people should go see it. I have to say, though, I'm more in the "The Pain and the Itch was okay and Reg Rogers is great but some of the characters were too one-dimensional and much of the social commentary was too beat-you-over-the-head" camp.

[David Cote]

Hi Jaime and thanks for your comment (by the way, superb post on "Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven" on your blog). I can understand the criticism of "Pain and the Itch" being too caricaturish and obvious in its satirical swipes, I thought the hypocritical-liberals-behaving-badly material was just one strain (yes, I emphasized it a bit too much in TONY and on NY1 maybe), but I really responded to the creepy and surreal-tragic elements as much if not more. I think Norris's play is more than a Neil LaBute-type gotcha comedy. I think it starts to go to the dark, irrational places that Wallace Shawn and Albee do.