The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters – Location, Tickets, Reviews
The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters, a world premiere play at Playwrights Horizons written by Marlane Meyer and directed by Lisa Peterson, features Laura Heisler as Aubrey, an innocent and awkward romantic. She is also very religious, socially conservative, and in love with Calvin Little, her high school crush turned womanizing alcoholic.
After a meaningless night of passion – which Aubrey takes for a marriage proposal – Calvin, who is burdened by a dark secret and torn between Aubrey and another woman, must chose whether to continue down the dead-end, booze-filled road he’s on, or confront his dark past in order to start anew.
The critics didn’t care much for this production. The New York Times described it as “veering between loopy, Christopher Durang-style comedy and a kind of sincerely cockeyed love story” in which the playwright “seems to be chasing a dark fable about the power of true love and unshakable belief, but her play comes off as eccentric for eccentricity’s sake.” Likewise, TheaterMania found the play “potentially thought-provoking for those able to maintain their grip,” but ultimately “an unmanageable stampede that leaves the audience with a confusing blend of whiplash and vertigo.”
This peculiar tale is probably best appreciated by individuals equal in eccentricity to Mayer’s extreme characters.
We recommend it if. . .
You like characters who are outspoken and eccentric;
You enjoy scripts that are littered with references to literary classics and political commentary;
You love a good morality tale that explores the complexity of true love and the stunning potency of belief; and
A little raunch and a lot of beers and cigarettes on stage don’t bother you.
LOCATION
Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Playwrights Horizons
155 West 65th Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
2 hours and 20 minutes, one intermission
TICKETS
Regular price: $60.00-$80.00 (click here for tickets from Ticket Central, the official online ticket seller for The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters)
Discount price Ticket Central: $30.00 (click here for tickets from Ticket Central and enter code SAINTPH30 from now until closing).
Discount price Facebook: $25.00 tickets can be purchased through Playwrights Horizons’ Facebook page (click on the ‘Buy Tickets’ link; a Facebook account is required)
DATES
October 18 – December 1, 2013
REVIEWS
New York Times
Why is this Thing Called Love?
NY Daily News
In the end, the show doesn’t deliver much to think about — except for the technical prowess of Buckley’s dentist.
This Patron Saint plays like a parody of a trailer-park trash soap opera, overloaded with scatology, screaming folks and incredulous plot lines.
TheaterMania
Despite Meyer’s blunt commitment to this beastly theme, the playwright never fully commits to the heightened world it establishes, leaving us with just a collection of unsettling characters who never come into focus.
TimeOut
Baffling, higgledy-piggledy, frustratingly self-amused and yet glimmering with possibility, Marlane Meyer’s The Patron Saint of Sea Monstershandily demonstrates the risks of overindulgence in the High Weird style.
Village Voice
In this Playwrights Horizons production, there’s something very special about watching a writer, a director (Lisa Peterson), and a fine company knowingly working above their heads. The play’s six actors portray 17 characters with a gonzo intensity that’s sometimes scary, usually funny, and always exhilarating.
Show Business Weekly
The play struggles to resonate emotionally. Calvin begins to own up to his criminal past and attempts to better himself, while Aubrey struggles to understand the logic in being attracted to someone so morally far gone. Unfortunately, their epiphanies arrive too late in the game to be taken seriously.
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written by Marlane Meyer
Directed by Lisa Peterson
Featuring Candy Buckley, Rob Campbell, Laura Heisler, Haynes Thigpen, Danny Wolohan, and Jacqueline Wright