Mindplay at Arena Stage

Mindplay

Arena Stage
1101 Sixth Street, SW Washington

Mindplay, the surprise addition to Arena Stage's current season, is a love letter to the imperfect mind. Drama Desk Award-nominated theatermaker and mentalist Vinny DePonto guides audiences on an entirely new theatrical event in which their thoughts play a leading role. Hailed as a "warmly inviting, nostalgia-ridden, gem of a performance" (BroadwayWorld), Mindplay investigates the expansive beauty of imagination and the ephemeral and surprising nature of memory.

Thru - Mar 3, 2024

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 202-488-3300

www.arenastage.com

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Mindplay at Arena Stage in Washington DC

Mindplay Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...Vinny DePonto’s affinity for analog is readily apparent throughout “Mindplay,” the mentalist’s spotty but ultimately enthralling feat of mind-probing prowess now at Arena Stage. A rotary phone rings to open the show, egging on an unsuspecting audience member to step onstage and answer. A slide projector offers an unlikely insight into another patron’s memory. And DePonto uses a cassette player to broadcast some of his own (not so) guarded anxieties."

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- Thomas Floyd

DC Theater Arts - Somewhat Recommended

"...The disjointed nature of Mindplay's two halves may not be an issue if the "play" portions could stand on their own, but they don't. Each section is thematically scattershot, jumping from idea to idea with no discernible throughline or connective tissue other than being an "exploration" of the mind. That exploration, for what it's worth, does not offer any insights beyond direct, surface-level observations: We humans sometimes regret, sometimes revel. We cherish memories and forget other ones. So true."

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- Jakob Cansler

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...What DePonto is really examining and demonstrating is the process of memory itself. He wrote the work with John Koenigsberg, while director Andrew Neisler maintains the tempo of the unending flow of ideas."

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- Susan Berlin

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...Many comic magicians employ the technique of pretending to bungle a trick, only to wow us later with an illusion far more stupefying than what they’d promised us initially. DePonto’s variation on this is to replace the comic bungling with something like a panic attack. His anxiety, albeit scripted, still feels genuine—and ever-so-slightly contagious. Only you can know whether you’re willing to be unsettled as part of the cost of being delighted."

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- Chris Klimek

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

"...Mystifying, magical, and moving, “Mindplay” is a guided exploration of memory and the power it has to shape and reshape our perceptions—with an endless stash of astonishing surprises along the way. A uniquely crafted production, the journey begins in the moments before the curtain rises, and as the show unfolds, steadily transforms audience members into co-creators. "

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- Jeannette Mulherin

Mindplay at Arena Stage

Mindplay

Mindplay Reviews

Washington Post - Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Somewhat Recommended

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

Washington City Paper - Recommended

MD Theatre Guide - Recommended

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