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Reviews Index
The Philanthropist
Opened 26 Apr 2009
at the American Airlines Theatre |
Photo by Joan Marcus
 | Jennifer Mudge and
Matthew Broderick |
Playwright:
| Christopher Hampton |
Director:
| David Grindley |
Cast:
| Matthew Broderick (Philip), Jonathan Cake (Braham), Anna Madeley (Celia), Steven Weber (Don), Tate Ellington (John), Jennifer Mudge (Araminta) and Samantha Soule (Liz). |
Synopsis:
| Hampton’s bourgeois comedy examines the empty, insular lives of college intellectuals. At the center of the story is Philip, a professor who seems almost absurdly removed from the political turmoil surrounding him, including the assassination of the Prime Minister and his cabinet. |
What the press had to say.....
"a moribund revival.., is like being stuck in a stuffy room with a bunch of pompous, malicious or dreary writers and academics."
Charles Isherwood
New York Times
"it's hard to be generous about this zzzz-inducing Roundabout revival, which fails to flatter its star, director or the play."
Joe Dziemianowicz
New York Daily News
"It's baffling to see marquee names.., land with such a resounding thud. And yet here we are, scratching our heads in bored disbelief.
Elisabeth Vincentelli
New York Post
"No matter how dry the wit Hampton provides, Broderick is cold rain on the kindling. No sparks ignite."
John Simon
Bloomberg
"whatever possessed the Roundabout Theatre Company to revive this mild little British satire about apathy"
Linda Winner
NewsDay
"like playing word games with a group of unpleasant new acquaintances."
David Sheward
Back Stage
"Good-heartedness has seldom been less compelling."
Robert Feldberg
The Record
"sleepy revival"
Michael Kuchwara
Associated Press
"the play sits inertly, its poignancy lost and its clever dialogue hollowed into empty banter"
David Rooney
Variety
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