Raised in Captivity

Rating:
Summary: Silver's best yet!
Review: Nicky Silver again makes us laugh at the horrors of everyday life and cry at laughter with RAISED IN CAPTIVITY. As with PTERODACTYLS and FAT MEN IN SKIRTS, Silver puts the fun back into dysfunctional families. RAISED IN CAPTIVITY revolves around SEBASTION BLISS, an emotional celibate who can't get over the death of a lover; a convict with whom SEBASTIAN correponds; BERNADETTE, his sister who is afraid of change; her huband, KIP, who has an obsession with teeth; and SEBASTIAN'S psychologist, HILLARY, who can't deal with her own problems. The first act is set up in a collage of short scenes; and the second is very farcical. A bit tamer than his earlier work but just as good! Psychologically stimulating. Excellent writing. Very funny, and extremely moving.

Rating:
Summary: Dysfunctional families at their most entertaining
Review: Probably one of Silver's most endearing and quirkiest plays. Sebastion Bliss is a young man who has been an emotional celibate ever since his lover died eleven years ago. Following the funeral of his mother, Sebastian finds himself thrust into situations with other humans against his will. His twin sister Bernadette is completely unstable, her husband Kip is a dentist who hates teeth, his psychiatrist Hillary is a self-mutilating basket case, and his only friend is Dylan, a convicted murderer whom he writes letters to and has never seen.

Over the course of the play, characters realize how much or little they need one another, and that there are many different types of love. The play moves from dark comedy to drama and back again with lightning quickness. The final moment between Bernadette and Sebastian is really beautiful and sweet, if unconventional. Unconventional is probably the best way to describe this play. But it's unconventional in the best way possible.

Rating:
Summary: Dysfunctional families at their most entertaining
Review: Probably one of Silver's most endearing and quirkiest plays. Sebastion Bliss is a young man who has been an emotional celibate ever since his lover died eleven years ago. Following the funeral of his mother, Sebastian finds himself thrust into situations with other humans against his will. His twin sister Bernadette is completely unstable, her husband Kip is a dentist who hates teeth, his psychiatrist Hillary is a self-mutilating basket case, and his only friend is Dylan, a convicted murderer whom he writes letters to and has never seen.

Over the course of the play, characters realize how much or little they need one another, and that there are many different types of love. The play moves from dark comedy to drama and back again with lightning quickness. The final moment between Bernadette and Sebastian is really beautiful and sweet, if unconventional. Unconventional is probably the best way to describe this play. But it's unconventional in the best way possible.