Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous) at Theater J

Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous)

Theater J
1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington

Award-winning local writer-director Aaron Posner (Stupid, F**king Bird, The Chosen) debuts his latest, loosely inspired by Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. As in that Russian melancholic masterpiece, no one is satisfied with their lives -- not the gorgeous, desirable woman who considers herself deeply misunderstood, nor the middle-aged man who's all too aware of his own shortcomings. And then there's the not-so-pretty girl whose beauty shines from within. Billed as both poignant and hilarious, Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous) receives its world premiere at Theater J.

Thru - Feb 15, 2015

Price: $30-$65

Running Time: 2hrs, 10 mins;with one intermission

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Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous) Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...John Lescault drips with arrogance and mortal dread as the professor, and Judith Ingber crackles with a flood tide of emotion as Sonia; as with “Stupid F-ing Bird,” the entire ensemble seems happy to play Posner’s sassy yet heartfelt Chekhovian game. If you saw “Bird,” last year’s Helen Hayes Award winner as outstanding resident play, you will recognize the tactics here. If you missed it, you’ll get the idea from “Life Sucks.” They’re utterly of a feather."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...There are similarly contemporary comedic riffs in Life Sucks about old age, workaholism, loneliness, and more. What’s remarkable about this provocative play is not only how much Posner has packed into it but also what he has left out. There’s not a hella godtalk. No Hallmark card spirituality. Not a nod to any creed. Yet Life Sucks sings a song of life’s worth that one cannot help but keep humming. (Pickles’ last tune, tellingly, is John Lennon’s “Imagine.”)"

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- John Stoltenberg

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...The packed house on press night showered the performers with sustained, standing applause; Life Sucks promises to be a sold out production so folks should get their tickets now. Clearly, former Theatre J Artistic Director Ari Roth’s and colleagues’ commitment to producing the World Premier of Aaron Posner’s irreverent comedy Life Sucks was an artistic leap that will reap major theatrical dividends in the weeks ahead."

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- Elizabeth Bruce

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

I’m head-over-heels in love with this play. We all know the pain of age or overwork or of desperately loving someone with whom you could never share a kiss. It aches and it sucks. But all that aching and sucking is what makes you feel alive, and the unfulfilled longing that you feel so deeply lets you know that your feelings run that deep.

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- Alan Katz

Magic Time - Highly Recommended

"...In Theater J’s delightful new production—Writer/Director Aaron Posner’s metatheatrical mashup of melancholy and hilarity—the question becomes like an insistent riddle, not just a brainteaser but a soul perturber. As Posner’s seven idiosyncratic characters confront the question over the course of two acts—one by one, each with a different agony, a different angle of vision, a different self-referential obsession—something quite extraordinary happens inside Goldman Theater. The question becomes the audience’s too. That curious question hovering over the entertaining action on stage leaps out into the house and becomes everyone’s own."

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Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous) at Theater J