Small Mouth Sounds

“A quiet gem of a play that has been restaged with all its wit, compassion and sparkle fully intact. The sound of silence onstage has rarely made such sweet music…Ms. Wohl’s ingenuity and the sympathetic direction of Rachel Chavkin allow us to read the bleeding hearts of the characters with a lucidity that no amount of dialogue could improve upon…It’s heartening to renew acquaintance with a play that leaves you moved, refreshed and, yes, maybe even a little enlightened.”

“As funny as it is, uh, quietly moving, Wohl’s play is also a model of ingenuity...Both the humor and the pathos spring mostly from wordless interaction, which is testimony to Wohl’s intrepid writing, to the superb acting and to the precise work of Chavkin...The play leaves behind its own warming afterglow. You may not emerge wanting to spend a week with your mouth shut, but Wohl’s play makes a wonderful case for how eloquently silence can speak.”

“'Small Mouth Sounds' feels like a holiday outing, a minimalist piece of experimental theater that casts the audience as voyeurs in an entertaining adventure that gradually darkens into tragedy...Chavkin’s direction is so supple and the ensemble work so subtle, it’s hard to say exactly when the shift happens — the silent, earth-moving switch from comedy to tragedy that makes this strange little play so moving. But when it does happen, it’s shattering.”

“Silence is golden in Bess Wohl’s exquisite play...The sight of deeply unhappy people trapped in a series of embarrassing situations makes 'Small Mouth Sounds' one of the funnier sad plays you’re likely to see...This is a smashing cast, all navigating tonal and emotional shifts with passion and aplomb. Chavkin’s beautifully direct and transparent staging covers a remarkable range of pain, joy and hope in 100 deeply engrossing minutes.”

“'Small Mouth Sounds' is a terrific new play in a beautiful production that deserves to be seen on its own merits...Six mostly incompatible people show up for a five-day retreat...The retreat is meant to be silent and, for the most part, the participants comply...All of these nonverbal clues combine, in Chavkin’s incredibly confident orchestration, to form a profoundly entertaining and quasi-musical portrait of people living under great pressure...Everything pulls you in.”

“Director Rachel Chavkin, no stranger to close environs, expertly creates a near-claustrophobic kinship between the players and the audience...The ambiance of 'Small Mouth Sounds' can’t help but invite comparison to Annie Baker’s 'Circle Mirror Transformation' and this play doesn’t quite possess the delicate tapestry of Baker’s piece. But the playwright clearly has great affection for them and their myriad surprises, and by play’s end, so shall you.”

“At its best, 'Small Mouth Sounds' contrives sublime moments of Chaplinesque comedy from this clash between Nirvana and reality...Wohl also wittily conveys how the smartphone has put a definitive end to peace and quiet even in the remotest places. But her play ultimately lacks dramatic variety and, under Chavkin’s direction, the action drags at times...After about an hour of this, you may nonetheless find yourself feeling a bit low on mindfulness.”

“Bess Wohl’s wry and observant 'Small Mouth Sounds' is long on emotions and short on words — very short...There are unspoken arguments, sweet gestures of support, seductions and emotional letdowns. Just when you think you get it, there’s a twist. Not every revelation holds water...But in the end, the message is clear: Everybody’s life is messy. You don’t need words to know that.”

“Action generally speaks louder than words — but silence says even more in 'Small Mouth Sounds', Bess Wohl’s wonderful, perceptive new play...It’s amazing how much we learn about our campers as we watch them silently go about their days and nights...Under the precise, empathetic direction of Rachel Chavkin, the actors brilliantly uncover the characters’ quirks and foibles.”

“Small Mouth Sounds' manages the extraordinary feat of both reducing human communication to its essentials, and exploding the range of emotion, depth and subtext possible when the need to break through barriers perforce becomes primal. Rachel Chavkin has the extraordinary cast directed on a runway stage configuration, so effectively that you too feel a part of the grand experiment. This play should have a long shelf life.”

“Sweet and diverting, if not as deft or probing as it seems to want to be. Still, it's fun and very well-performed…I didn't fall completely in love with the play, the overarching narrative of which sometimes felt a little too easy in some places, and a little forced in others…As an extended acting exercise that has been placed in the hands of a very good ensemble, 'Small Mouth Sounds' is better than good. I'm just not sure that the characters' stories fully add up to the sum of their parts.”

“Wohl has a great time with the idea that these disparate people must co-exist without speaking, and the inventive director Rachel Chavkin conducts the proceedings with precision and sensitivity worthy of a Böhm or Maazel...Wohl can’t resist cheating on occasion, when someone or other simply has to speak...And I was disappointed that the heard but unseen guru is a standard-issue charlatan...Nevertheless, the ensemble is spectacular and the 100 minutes fly by.”

““‘Small Mouth Sounds’ is an unusual evening in the theater. Not only does it oblige us to listen in a way we usually don’t during a play, it also asks us to consider our own state of mental and emotional health as we watch six people attempt to come to terms – or not – with their life situations. Max Baker, Babak Tafti, Brad Herberlee, Marcia DeBonis, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Jojo Gonzalez, and Zoë Winters give perceptive performances without having words to reveal who they are.””

“The actors so ably embody their characters through their postures, their sideways glances, and their movements that when they do finally speak those moments come as a surprise and feel gratifying…In a play so focused on sounds and silence, it's fitting, then, that the sound design is remarkably done…Overall, the play acts as a realistic snapshot of six lives…Every bit reveals them just enough for us to empathize with whatever of us we see in their pain and joy and misfortune.”

““There is a surprising amount of humor, sparked by the smallest actions and expressions, and plenty of tears...The play, nicely directed by Rachel Chavkin, is a bit too long and seems to spend the last fifteen minutes in search of an ending. The bottom line turns out to be not much more than 'you are not alone.' Still, the pivotal issue is feeling disconnected in these strange and fast times. And who doesn’t?””

“Mere words cannot express the depth and beauty that abounds in Bess Wohl’s transcendent 'Small Mouth Sounds'...In spite of the serious sounding synopsis, it is incredibly amusing...Hit maker Rachel Chavkin has succeeded in giving her ultra-talented cast enough leeway to fully explore every nuance through Wohl’s well-written characters...I can’t imagine that a better theater piece will emerge in 2016.”

““While watching the show, I had a wonderful time; beautifully directed by Rachel Chavkin, it is an enticing theatrical experience, I laughed heartily and it was entertaining, but the moment the show was over, I realized that every single laugh was at someone’s expense and usually at their misery. I was upset that I laughed mindlessly at their pain…’Small Mouth Sounds’ is like a one-night stand; at the time you think it’s great, but the moment it’s over, you feel cheap and ashamed.””

“Wohl's clever conceit and Chavkin's inventive and smartly focused direction are in place...Moving this production from a small off-the beaten path locale to a larger, more high-profile location probably accounts for Wohl's striking originality at times feeling a bit gimmicky...Thanks to Wohl's vivid voice and the way the actors make silence as dramatically potent as dialogue, 'Small Mouth Sounds' is a truly unique and entertaining experimental theater experience.”

“Six people in varying degrees of turmoil have gathered for a five-day experience that will help them re-create themselves, presumably for the better...That double sense of existence as a mix of comedy and tragedy permeates the evening, as the characters tentatively begin to interact emotionally, communicating without speech...They've been able to give one another the small, passing gifts of comfort and understanding. 'Small Mouth Sounds' is a lovely gift of its own.”

“An astounding play...The phenomenal cast build their characters and articulate their performances with carefully calibrated facial modulations, body language, and movement, helped by calculated details in their costumes and props…'Small Mouth Sounds' walks a razor’s edge between parody and profundity. Part of the play’s impressive cleverness is that it knows the members of the audience are on their own silent retreat,..'Small Mouth Sounds' is funny as hell.”

“Wohl's play is hilarious, made even more so by top-notch physical performances from the cast. The retreat is a silent one, so most of the story is told outside of the dialogue...'Small Mouth Sounds' is an excellent, perhaps even enlightening, evening of theater. Wohl is not satisfied to merely present a satire of spiritual capitalism: All of her characters are real and their problems are genuine. The different ways they cope with those problems also feels authentic.”

“Wohl’s play about six characters who are attending a silent retreat contains almost no dialogue, but it speaks volumes. It is a satire, but it treats its subject with respect. It is a comedy, but it slowly reveals each individual’s tragedy. In the hands of Chavkin and its exquisite seven-member cast 'Small Mouth Sounds' is a remarkable work of theater.”

“One of the unexpected theatrical joys of the spring of 2015 was Bess Wohl’s 'Small Mouth Sounds'...The various interactions are perhaps more aggressive than soothing, but that is the playwright’s point. What makes the play remarkable is that so much of this is expressed without words, or with minimal dialogue...'Small Mouth Sounds' is a play unlike any other, yes; but Wohl and Chavkin bring you right into the drama, and it makes an engrossing and pretty much delightful evening of theatre.”

“These actors are expert at wordless interaction and there is so much humor and so much pain in this play, it's amazing to think that most of it was performed in silence...'Small Mouth Sounds' is unlike anything I've ever seen before and I was so taken with it. I loved the audacity of it and I thought the acting was the finest I've seen, across the board, in a long time.”