Written by Lennox Robinson
Directed by Jonathan Blank
Synopsis: A legit repertory troupe comes to a small village in Ireland and, after a week or so of Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg the town is off its nut. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Is Life Worth Living?--a gloriously goofy comedy that imagines the impact a steady diet of serious drama might have on the amiable residents of the seaside town of Inish.
NEW YORK TIMES:
"Mr. Robinson lampoons the self-importance of the artists and the provincial audiences equally, and not without compassion, but at its heart, this is a farce (subtitle: “an exaggeration”). Instead of satirizing gleefully the conviction that great drama enlightens the mind, the cast is oddly restrained."
Read the whole review HERE.
THEATERMANIA:
"Like the victims in some sort of yesteryear Stephen King novel, the denizens of a small Irish seaside town suddenly turn on one another -- and themselves -- in Lennox Robinson's Is Life Worth Living?, an endearing 1930s comedy that's being revived to smile-inducing effect at the Mint Theatre Company."
Read the whole review HERE.
VARIETY:
"Those enterprising archeologists at the Mint Theater have unearthed yet another forgotten gem in "Is Life Worth Living?" an amiable, if prickly 1933 comedy by Lennox Robinson that mocks a little Irish village for its provincial cultural tastes, while loving the impressionable villagers half to death for their endearing innocence. Familiar stalwarts from the core ensemble company engage the character comedy with knowing wit, while carefully stepping around the black hole that the two miscast leads have torn out of helmer (and Mint a.d.) Jonathan Bank's otherwise presentable production."
Read the whole review HERE.
BACKSTAGE:
"The invaluable Mint Theater Company's genial production of Lennox Robinson's 1933 comedy (originally titled "Drama at Inish") keeps a smile on your face for two hours. This loving look at the work of an important figure in Irish theater in the first half of the 20th century brims with shining talent and smartly executed craft."
Read the whole review HERE.
