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What audiences say about Let Me Down Easy
posted by Karen McKevitt on Tue, Jun 7, 2011
in Our shows
Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy has been playing a little over a week to packed houses -- and tickets are still selling fast. The critics are raving about the show, but we wanted to hear from our audience members too --and share their comments with you. Here are some select raves:
Her beautiful illuminations of people's responses to suffering and death have stayed with me all day. Much to think about.
As a retired home care and hospice nurse, I could definitely relate to her work and the issues in health care today.
Outstanding, and we usually don't like one person shows.
It has renewed my ponders about life and death -- particularly in the context of trying to address an impending crisis with my aging mother.
I loved the variety of perspectives and Anna's representation of them. I'm recommending the show.
I was profoundly moved by this production. I think everyone should see it. The concept was intriguing and the acting of each character was fantastic. I really enjoyed it and I was very happy that it was added to the season. Thank you.
The show was very moving both as a piece of art and also as an examination of health care in the United States. The characters and mix of emotions have stayed with me throughout the week.
I am grateful for having seen Anna perform this work. The confluence of characters makes a statement about this country that is sitting with me today. The "luck" of the haves, the resignation of the disenfranchised, and those who have the humanity to embrace and be with the ill and dying... all the monologues together create a mosaic that I hope will have each of us reach within to do a little better in our own lives. Anna is a treasure of heartfelt wisdom. Thank you.
My husband is in the health care industry so the issues are not unknown to me. We loved the show! The different points of view; the lack of polarization in her presentation. "This is just what it is."
It really made an impact on me emotionally. It was entertaining, but spoke to so many people's experiences. It started several conversations about life, illness and healthcare between me, my friends and coworkers.
Of course, not everyone loves a hit show -- but we like hearing from these audiences members too. Here’s what they had to say:
The show had no affect on me. I felt it was too long and tedious.
Some of the monologues were engaging; others were not. One-person shows or shows heavy with narration never affect me as much as dialogue between characters in conflict. I like the 4th wall. Dramatic dialogue is the art that keeps me coming to the theater.
I enjoyed seeing her take on the different characters, which she does very well, but the show didn't seem to have focus.
It made me very uncomfortable as I was with friends who are cancer patients and just heard that their daughter has breast cancer. It was a bit too morbid for us. The acting was superb.
Do you want to join the conversation? There are still some great seats available, but they won’t last too long. Reserve your seats now. Hurry, the show’s been extended, but must close on July 10.
Comments:
In the words of the great Selma Diamond, "I laughed, I cried, it became part of me".
Steve | Thu, Jun 9, 2011
I think the monologues were very uneven. Some of them were brilliant and some were very weak. Cutting out 4-5 of them, in particular the ones about the boxer and the rodeo fighter, would have left a more concise play and more focused on universal messages, on disease and death.
Reuven Segev | Sat, Jun 11, 2011
She takes on so many personalities. She's a genius. I'm encouraging everyone to see the play.
ethel | Thu, Jun 16, 2011
Enjoyed the show very much, we felt moved since we could relate to so much of it....thank you again for a great evening ..,,,Diana and Randy
Diana | Thu, Jun 16, 2011
This show has given me a lot to think about regarding how we care for people as they are ailing both in hospitals and our lives. I have encouraged all my theatre-going fans to attend.
Jill Fugaro | Thu, Jun 23, 2011
As always, Anna is a tour de force. Several of the people she brought to life on the stage brought me to tears. That being said, more and more actors are creating one person shows. As powerful as these shows can be, I hope they are not pushing aside full theatrical productions because they cost so much less to produce.
Joan Affleck Silberman | Thu, Jun 23, 2011
The good: Anna was brilliant - all her characters were so nuanced & detailed - down to facial & vocal ticks. She commands the stage.
I loved it that she left the various pieces of props & costumes behind as she moved on to each new character. It served to have the shadow or ghost of the previous characters still be felt on stage. Lovely.
Hopefully constructive comments: I wish the theme hadn't been quite so broad - a little more focus would move the play itself from "pretty good" to "amazing."
Lastly, my companions and I found that Anna spoke very quickly throughout the show, no matter which character she was playing. I guess there's a lot to say in 1:40 - but making it a bit longer so she's not so rushed would be a lovely thing.
TJ | Thu, Jun 23, 2011
Poignant. Very moving. Each monologue carried its unique message. Anna did a wonderful job of drawing me into to performance, to the point that I was stunned with the conclusion, the Buddhist Monk's comment on life/death.
Rod Gutierrez | Thu, Jun 23, 2011
As a cancer survivor and one who lost my mother to cancer and had to deal with end of life issues, I felt that Anna covered all the bases brilliantly. I particularly appreciated the character who spoke about reaching the end of options for care and had to tell patients that comfort was the last treatment.I went through that with my Mom and actually enjoyed not having to ask her to keep fighting. Thank you for taking on subjects that most people do not want to talk about.
Lisa Schultz | Thu, Jun 23, 2011
I thought that this show was much weaker then the other two shows I have seen of hers. It not a cohert whole. Parts are brilliant and profound and other parts more superficial but entertaining. They show touches on issues in our heatlh care system or lack of it and illness and death and dying. It does just a It oftne fails to stay in the with the deeper issues of either one of these major issues. Smith is a great actor and quite a talent but this show doesn't make it for me the way the Crown Heights and LA Riots Shows did.
jerome Geffner | Thu, Jun 30, 2011
Impressive! So much to chew on, ponder..., funny, sad, moving, prickly
cherry cartwright | Fri, Jul 1, 2011
This show was extremely powerful. I was really glad to see the season end on such a high note.
I've thought about the themes from "Let Me Down Easy" a lot since I saw the show. The questions raised are ones that we face in the political choices we'll need to make next year.
Berkeley Rep should find performances like this more often - artistically outstanding and with strong social commentary.
Vincent Casalaina | Wed, Jul 13, 2011
Catching Anna Deavere Smith's latest one-woman show Let Me Down Easy in Berkeley, I was struck by the many facets of her genius:
She's invented a new theatrical genre, which merges performance with journalism, two unlikely pairings if there ever were.
Describing an event (like the riots after the Rodney King beating in Twilight: Los Angeles) or a topic (Let Me Down Easy explores the life and death issues in healthcare), she somehow manages to transcend what a documentary filmmaker might accomplish with the same material. Both Smith and the documentarian rely on the primary interview for source material. And both try to weave stories by presenting the interviewees words verbatim. But where the documentarian arranges a stream of different people on screen, Smith uses her own body and voice as the lens. Everything the audience sees and hears comes through her, and the effect is remarkable. Though she ably performs the vocal and physical ticks of her various interviewees (including, in Let Me Down Easy, a boxer, several doctors, and Lance Armstrong), somehow she tells a coherent, wildly compelling story, by making herself the vessel. All the preconceptions the audience might bring to seeing Lance Armstrong or a black boxer on screen are gone, and only their language remains.
Smith is a good but not great actress, but her performances are mostly riveting and delightful. Stack her against a character actor like Philip Seymour Hoffman, and it's clear that the strength of her craft is not just the performance but the creation of the piece itself, starting with the idea, continuing through the interview, and ending in her on-stage communion with an audience.
Truly an extraordinary creator.
Jonathan Heuer | Wed, Jul 13, 2011
Absolutely BRILLANT
Ingrid Rucker | Thu, Jul 14, 2011
Absolutely BRILLANT
Ingrid Rucker | Thu, Jul 14, 2011
I've treated myself to a lot of theater this year local and broadway. This was one of my most enjoyable theater experiences ever. Unique, fresh, and thought provoking. Gave me a greater appreciation of Anna's craft than I had from enjoying her performances on Nurse Jackie....Just have to add, don't cut ANYTHING..as recommended above..the rodeo rider was one of the most memorable characters for me probably because he's so much the opposite of the actress.
Interesting..another of my very enjoyable and unique theater experiences was "American Idiot"...GO Berkeley Rep.!!
Steve Mallory | Fri, Jul 15, 2011
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