Rating: 
Summary: No Pinter
Review: Closer seems to be a favorite of producers and actors, and reading it in this edition certainly shows that its dramatic possibilities are strong: characters who are obessesd with each other but don't like each other; characters who have what some would call low self-esteem (self-loathing is more like it) but can still get a date and convince somebody to sign up for domestic partnership; and juicy, X-rated language that a good actor can hurl across a stage with withering contempt for his/her adversary. Performances of "Closer" may work brilliantly, but on the page the seams show. Blurbs compare Marber to Pinter: he should be so lucky. I challenge anybody to read or see "Old Times," "Homecoming" and "No Man's Land" and make that statement again with a straight face. I also enjoyed seeing Marber lift a line from the truly inspired novelist Elizabeth Taylor ("It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on.") only to ruin it in his misanthrophic poseur's rendition of "Lying is the most fun a woman can have with her clothes on." Considering that nobody has much fun with or without their clothes on among the play's nasty foursome, maybe they should all stick to lying.
Rating: 
Summary: see it live if you can...comes across stilted on the page...
Review: Fall 2000 I saw a production of CLOSER at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and really enjoyed it. What I got from Marber's play is that modern relationships are doomed to failure. Men and women are always trying to find the better, more exciting partner. Or we men follow our you-know-what-around while women flit from man to man in search of companionship that excites them. This is hardly new territory, but Marber makes it entertaining...yet I didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy for any of the characters.The play is much better when you HEAR the lines spoken from good actors. On the page the dialogue flows, but somehow it seems
too easy...too calculated and too clever for it's own good.
Also, I wasn't aware of the time shifts: live on stage I was under the impression this all takes place in a matter of days or weeks not years! (why this is not made known to the audience is somewhat puzzling to me....) I look forward to seeing more of Marber's work performed live.
Rating:
Summary: see it live if you can...comes across stilted on the page...
Review: Fall 2000 I saw a production of CLOSER at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and really enjoyed it. What I got from Marber's play is that modern relationships are doomed to failure. Men and women are always trying to find the better, more exciting partner. Or we men follow our you-know-what-around while women flit from man to man in search of companionship that excites them. This is hardly new territory, but Marber makes it entertaining...yet I didn't feel a whole lot of sympathy for any of the characters. The play is much better when you HEAR the lines spoken from good actors. On the page the dialogue flows, but somehow it seems
too easy...too calculated and too clever for it's own good.
Also, I wasn't aware of the time shifts: live on stage I was under the impression this all takes place in a matter of days or weeks not years! (why this is not made known to the audience is somewhat puzzling to me....) I look forward to seeing more of Marber's work performed live.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Dealer's Choice
Review: I didn't find "Closer" as compelling as Marber's earlier play, the brilliant "Dealer's Choice." The characters were nowhere near as captivating and their conflicts were extremely superficial. The flow of the play, dialog and interaction between the characters were all quite strong, however - evidence of Marbers skill in an otherwise hollow drama.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Dealer's Choice
Review: I didn't find "Closer" as compelling as Marber's earlier play, the brilliant "Dealer's Choice." The characters were nowhere near as captivating and their conflicts were extremely superficial. The flow of the play, dialog and interaction between the characters were all quite strong, however - evidence of Marbers skill in an otherwise hollow drama.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Dealer's Choice
Review: I didn't find "Closer" as compelling as Marber's earlier play, the brilliant "Dealer's Choice." The characters were nowhere near as captivating and their conflicts were extremely superficial. The flow of the play, dialog and interaction between the characters were all quite strong, however - evidence of Marbers skill in an otherwise hollow drama.
Rating: 
Summary: Closer...... hotly human
Review: Like Pinter, minus the abundance of pauses. Degradation, infedility, lies, youth, sex,drugs,and love. It is hard not to find an aspect of yourself within this play. The pain and pleasure that ensues is glorious.A funny and tremendously delicious work.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and Sobering
Review: Patrick Marber's comic drama CLOSER is a brilliant examination of what it means to be human in an increasingly technological society. Marber is interested in a world where humans interact through machines, rather than true and intimate connection. His exploration of four British thirtysomethings--Anna, Larry, Alice and Dan--has been compared to another classic four person play, Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF. While chronicling the psychosexual lives of his characters, Marber's CLOSER makes a bold cultural statement: a definitive play about a definitive era. Reminding readers and audience members of the difficulties of becoming "closer," Marber viscerally suggests that human connection could be impossible for members of our millenium. Hugely popular in the UK, it is one of the most thoughtful plays of the century. As a work that shocks and disturbs while it amuses, CLOSER has become indelibly imprinted in our theatrical and personal histories.
Rating:
Summary: Sexy and Sobering
Review: Patrick Marber's comic drama CLOSER is a brilliant examination of what it means to be human in an increasingly technological society. Marber is interested in a world where humans interact through machines, rather than true and intimate connection. His exploration of four British thirtysomethings--Anna, Larry, Alice and Dan--has been compared to another classic four person play, Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF. While chronicling the psychosexual lives of his characters, Marber's CLOSER makes a bold cultural statement: a definitive play about a definitive era. Reminding readers and audience members of the difficulties of becoming "closer," Marber viscerally suggests that human connection could be impossible for members of our millenium. Hugely popular in the UK, it is one of the most thoughtful plays of the century. As a work that shocks and disturbs while it amuses, CLOSER has become indelibly imprinted in our theatrical and personal histories.
Rating:
Summary: Marber beats Mamet
Review: Somebody to watch, Marber is equally skilled as an author and a director, succeeding where Mamet was lukewarm on "The Old Neighborhood" in London's West End. Come see it at Steppenwolf in Spring 1999, I myself saw it once in London and twice on Broadway. Caution on the language however, not for the faint of heart.
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