Red Speedo

59/100

Photo by Joan Marcus
Written by Lucas Hnath. Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. At New York Theatre Workshop through March 27

What's it About? "Hailed as "one of the brightest new voices of his generation" by The New York Times, Lucas Hnath (The Christians, ...Walt Disney) makes his NYTW debut with Red Speedo, a muscular new play directed by NYTW Usual Suspect Lileana Blain-Cruz. Set on the eve of the Olympic swim trials, pressure builds as front-runner Ray confronts the lure of endorsements, the perils of mixing the personal and professional, and the unforgiving weight of success. Through Hnath's signature dark wit and exacting language, Red Speedo is a captivating exploration of America's obsession with winning at all costs."

Consensus: There's a large schism in reviews for this play. Some critics found the play a taut and entertaining thriller with Mamet-eque dialogue, while others found the play to ineffectively explore its ideas. Nobody argues for its profundity, but everyone cites the impressive physical production (there's an onstage pool). At the very least, one character spends the entire evening wearing nothing but a speedo, so there's always that to look at if the play doesn't interest you.





The New York Times 90/100
(Charles Isherwood) "Mr. Hnath’s voice and style are fundamentally his own. There’s an elemental, stylized simplicity to his work that focuses attention on the meanings behind the matters at hand. The characters in “Red Speedo” are palpably, at times movingly, human in their complexity and weakness, but as the play gathers steam it broadens out to become a subtle indictment of the ethos that insists that winning is everything."

am New York 88/100
(Matt Windman) "The tank is an impressive touch, and the lead actor swims a lap or two in it, but the real reasons to see “Red Speedo” lie in Hnath’s lean and muscular writing, his complicated characters, and their desperate situations and morally questionable responses, all of which comes to light in Lineana Blain-Cruz’s brutally focused production."

TheaterMania 80/100
(Zachary Stewart) "As always, Hnath leaves us to slug it out after the show, a fight certain to be as exhausting and fruitless as the one at the end of this troubling and truthful play."

Vulture 75/100
(Jesse Green) "It takes some very smart acting to get that kind of unintelligence just right. Also some very smart playwriting. If Red Speedo is not, finally, as profound as The Christians — the pool is only four-foot deep — that’s doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Shallows, too, are worth exploring."

Talkin' Broadway 35/100
(Matthew Murray) "Aside from a pitch-perfect physical production, what you get instead are moments of intensity and insight...separated by literal and figurative splashes that douse what sparks are generated.

The Hollywood Reporter 25/100
(Frank Scheck) "Red Speedo, much like a swimmer doing laps, expends considerable effort without getting anywhere interesting."

New York Daily News 20/100
(Joe Dziemianowicz) "Welcome to the dopey drama “Red Speedo,” written by Lucas Hnath (“The Christians”) and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz. Logic and even remotely authentic-sounding dialogue have sunk to the bottom of the deep end. This is an 80-minute exercise in unconvincing broad strokes."