Weddings never seem to be accompanied by fitting events, since something always goes wrong.  Personally, I love the drama and conflicts that arise during weddings, mostly because I’m a spectator and never involved.  That’s why when I saw the clichéd title “A Wedding and an Unexpected Guest” I thought: this ought to be fun. 

            Reading the first half of the review of “We Live Here”, I was questioning my decision.  The first paragraph was followed by five paragraphs dedicated to the character of Maggie, played by Amy Irving.  At first I viewed this as a poor critique because the details of one character were dragged out for too long.  However, after I finished the critique I realized I gave Charles Isherwood too little credit.  After thinking about it for some time I realized that Maggie most likely invoked the most feelings in him.  He states that Maggie is a “passive-aggressive mother, too busy to really bother with the passive part.”  That note and the length of his description of her acted as a deeper analysis of the character.  He was able to depict Maggie as a character that is so controlling she drowns out the other characters.

            The latter half of the critique was very good.  I began to see Isherwood’s disdain for the unoriginal plot and theme.  In his review he made a comment about the ending being “a rookie mistake that someone at Manhattan Theater Club probably should have flagged.”  Before that, he gave Zoe Kazan the recognition she deserved for her previous works, which proved his disappointment in Ms. Kazan’s latest work.  His disgruntlement with the play’s ending was also reflected in his view of the characters, mainly the women who were ” emotionally troubled young women wreaking various forms of havoc as the wedding bells threaten to peal.”  The men were “mellower and more playable” to him.

            While I thought Mr. Isherwood wasn’t an interesting reviewer at first, I realized it was because of the play which he was reviewing.  Mr. Isherwood gave the play a review that was unbiased review deserving of the credit he gave it.  The lack of originality also spurred him to give the close with “for a change of pace it would be nice to see a movie or play about a less venerated but more stress-free marital tradition: elopement.”  To me this seemed to be a recommendation to the general public, but after I let it sink in I realized he was fed up with the unoriginality of producers hoping on the wedding train.  Chris Isherwood ended up being the type of reviewer I like: unbiased and calls for reading between the lines. “We Live here” is now showing at the Manhattan Theater Club.