By Mike Leigh
Directed by Scott Elliot
Synopsis: An assimilated Jewish family's quiet life in suburban London gets turned upside down when their son becomes seriously devout.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"This latest collaboration between Mr. Leigh, the British moviemaker and playwright, and Scott Elliott, the artistic director of the New Group, may not be the finest of their forays into social portraiture with a sly, satiric edge. The play is enjoyable but oddly conceived and structured; the production not quite the equal of the sublime “Abigail’s Party” from two seasons ago."
Read the whole review HERE.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
"It's a funny, sad and affecting play about faith and family - and the nuttiness and resilience of each."
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NEW YORK SUN:
"Mr. Leigh's cunningly constructed plays and films typically appear to unfold with little thought for narrative, and "Two Thousand Years" follows the same seemingly circuitous path. The confused, roiling conversion of Josh (Jordan Gelber) from bourgeois secularism to Orthodox Judaism is notably light on epiphanies or reconciliations. But don't be fooled: Mr. Leigh and his clear-eyed director, Scott Elliott, mold the non-action into a sort of symphony of indirection, building upon each suppressed thought and swallowed insult."
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THEATERMANIA:
"If you're longing to assess the strengths and weaknesses of improvised playwriting, there isn't a better illustration to hand than Mike Leigh's problematic Two Thousand Years."
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VARIETY:
"Mike Leigh's first new play in more than 12 years signals an artist reaffirming cultural roots that had remained muted throughout his career. Whether tilted more toward humor or pathos, Leigh's work for film, television and the stage has invariably been part of an anthropological study of Englishness. That same specificity extends to Jewishness in "Two Thousand Years." The fractious, melancholy play may be more intellectually than emotionally engaging, but after a stilted first act, it comes together to reflect passionately on the ways in which personal and political choices are shaped by ethno-religious identity."
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NEWSDAY:
"Despite the lively, engrossing, substantial script and eight passionate actors, the production lacks the single quality that has always run through Leigh's restlessly varied projects: authenticity."
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NY1:
"So, what does Leigh have to say about Jewish identity? How to stop the bloodshed in the Gaza strip or whether to remain kosher? It's not that sort of play, of course. For this writer, religion is a puzzle – a human oddity that both divides and unites, even in the same family. "
Read the whole review HERE.
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