Punk Rock at Lucille Lortel Theatre

The New York Times - Recommended

"..."Punk Rock," which opened on Monday night in an MCC production directed by Trip Cullman, inspires wonder that anybody makes it to the end of adolescence. Enacted by a marvelous young cast that dares to go places most grown-ups like to forget exist, this portrait of British private-school students during exam season is one of the most piercing studies of kids' inhumanity to kids since poor Piggy snuffed it in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies.""

Hollywood Reporter - Highly Recommended

"...Stephens subtly turns up the volume on the underlying dread, and while the climax directly references contemporary events that sent shock waves around the world, the less an audience knows about it the better. Even if you do see what's coming, Punk Rock is far more gripping, insightful and excitingly theatrical than other recent stage treatments of the same subject matter. And a final scene involving a hospital psychiatrist (David Greenspan) raises sobering questions as to whether the violence was a result of mental disorder or merely the everyday minefield of adolescence."

New York Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...Minifie, in particular, makes a strong impression as a beautiful girl aware of her budding sexual power but still insecure. Smith is guardedly broody in the trickiest role, the kind of anxious boy who can also earnestly declare, "I sometimes think I'm the best person in this town. Is that terrible?""

Entertainment Weekly - Somewhat Recommended

"...Smith and Minifie are standouts in the cast, especially in the early stretches, where the principals get to bat around Stephens' pithiest dialogue. As the brainy, tormented scholarship student Chadwick, Noah Robbins projects a defiant restraint in difficult scenes, but has to contend with a nihilistic speech toward the play's end that exhibits playwright Stephens at his most cliched."

TheaterMania - Not Recommended

"...But there's only so much a person can take in one evening. Punk Rock is neither an easy play to sit through nor an easy play to like, especially as performed in such an in-your-face venue as the Lucille Lortel Theatre. We all may have made it through high school, but if you can make it through Simon Stephens' version of it, you deserve to graduate with honors."