Winners And Losers at Soho Rep

The New York Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...The show wants to blur the lines between the actors as performers and as real men, but the uncomfortable feeling of a friendship on cracking ice that it means to generate never fully convinces. Although the final moments suggest that some serious old wounds have been reopened, I had little doubt that after the lights went down, these two would share another beer, and probably play quite nicely together."

New York Post - Recommended

"...Like any real conversation, "Winners and Losers," directed by Chris Abraham, has its lulls, bogging down some two-thirds of the way in dull exchanges about upbringing and families. But then the tone switches again, and as the tension escalates, it seems the men might actually come to blows. You have to wonder how they can do this and still go for drinks together — but maybe they don't anymore. Soho Rep has been praised for making us rethink what is theater. It's in that gray zone that "Winners and Losers" fares best: When you no longer know what's real and what's a put-on."

Time Out New York - Recommended

"...Winners and Losers is set in a frame of friendly banter, but also in a chalk-drawn box that suggests a more violent struggle between Youssef, whose Egyptian-born father has money, and Long, whose troubled family does not. At one point, the two actually wrestle, and the "street-smart" Long wins easily over the "worldly wise" Youssef. It's not a fair fight, and neither, quite, is the play, which Long also dominates; not only does he have stronger arguments and a beefier backstory, but he seems more confident with the audience and more natural in his dialogue. (By the end, Youssef is sputtering, running on discursive empty.) This may be by design, or so, at least, it seemed to me. But I'd be happy to discuss it: Winners and Losers is the kind of play that makes you want to talk and, better still, to listen."

TheaterMania - Somewhat Recommended

"...Some people (particularly the politically disinclined) will find this tedious, like being trapped in a corner at a party with the two most opinionated individuals. Everyone will feel uncomfortable when they begin assessing each other's privilege. The game is no longer fun. Director Chris Abraham makes sure to exacerbate this tension with pregnant pauses in which the actors stare out at the audience as if to invite our response. An extended wrestling match between the two middle-aged thespians breaks up the evening and feels like a blunt object beating us over the head with the show's thesis: Much of our society is based on brutal competition, in which not all the combatants have an equal shot."