Did Critics Toast Gurney's Indian Blood?

Eddie, a high school student in Buffalo in 1946, has been suspended from school because of a lewd drawing he made in Latin class. Will his straight-laced WASP relatives learn the truth—and is Eddie's "Indian blood" to blame for his behavior? That's the dilemma in A.R. Gurney's latest play, Indian Blood. Did critics embrace this autobiographical comedy?

Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com review: "Most of A.R. Gurney's plays draw on his quintessentially WASP background, but Indian Blood is perhaps the most autobiographical comedy of his long, prolific career. It's a sweetly nostalgic look at a city on the brink of decline Gurney's native Buffalo and an ethnic group on the verge of losing its status as the ruling elite upper-middle-class WASPS. Although the plot wears thin, Gurney's wise observations and genial sense of humor make up for it…. Socarides is winning as the callow, Indian-obsessed Eddie. Gilpin is perfectly cast as Harvey, while Payton-Wright looks too young to be the crusty old grandmother. The standout is McMartin, a scene-stealing veteran last seen in Grey Gardens. It doesn't hurt that the grandfather gets many of the smartest and funniest lines. The mid-century WASP elite Gurney chronicles may be ancient history, but it's nice to see that the 76-year-old playwright shows no signs of slowing down. Slight of plot but rich in characters, Indian Blood is a wryly amusing, deeply affectionate portrait of Gurney's Buffalo beginnings."

Charles Isherwood of The New York Times: "As slight as it is sweet, A. R. Gurney's latest play, Indian Blood, is like a snow globe for the stage, in this case a memento of wintry Buffalo in the mid-1940's. This is not meant unkindly. Who can resist the low-tech charm of those friendly knickknacks? Written with delicacy and old-school craftsmanship, Indian Blood is a modest memory play that is endowed with a measure of emotional heft by its unchallenged but unusually strong cast. How small is the play's scope? Well, consider the dramatic jolt that sets the evening's emotional flurries in motion. In the first scene, calamity befalls the narrator and protagonist, the 16-year-old Eddie, when a naughty drawing he whipped up to entertain the boys in the back row in Latin class falls into the hands of his teacher. Grave consequences ensue….Indian Blood does not reach for the stars in philosophical terms. Mr. Gurney is content to open a window onto his personal past and share a few glimpses of what upper-middle-class family life once looked like in 'the 13th-largest city in the United States' in a less anxious age."

Frank Scheck of The New York Post: "Few playwrights have mined their origins as effectively as A.R. Gurney, who's produced countless comedies about the upper-crust society from which he hails. The latest is Indian Blood, which begins with the central character, obviously modeled on the playwright, announcing, 'This is a play about me when I was growing up in the city of Buffalo, New York.' This 90-minute work, which opened last night at Primary Stages, is little more than an anecdote. But it also possesses a genuine charm, and an absolutely wonderful performance by stage veteran John McMartin as the sort of grandfather you wish would adopt you."

Marilyn Stasio of Variety: "In his sweet and civilized memoir of a 16-year-old boy in rebellion against the stuffy values of his upper-middle-class family, prolific scribe A.R. Gurney deftly sidesteps the deathtrap of narcissism that trips up most coming-of-age plays. Indian Blood has broader aspirations, using the anecdotal tale of a family Christmas dinner to educate its cocky young narrator in what the future holds for his privileged social class. But in avoiding messy confrontations that might compromise its literate, well-mannered style wittily rendered in Mark Lamos' classy production for Primary Stages, play is almost too emotionally detached to leave a lasting impression."

Connor Ennis of the Associated Press: "Indian Blood is an exercise in old-fashioned nostalgia. Set in Buffalo, N.Y., in the mid-1940s, the thinly plotted, 90-minute one-acter provides a light, entertaining evening of theater. Narrated by the teenage Eddie, Indian Blood evokes memories of other, more-accomplished works. With its lack of sets or props beyond some chairs and a screen showing a map of upstate New York, it brings to mind Our Town, even mentioning the classic play specifically at one point. And its eccentric but basically sweet cast of characters are not unlike those that would be found in a production of Lost in Yonkers, if it was set among WASPs in Buffalo…Indian Blood boasts some genuine laughs and a few pleasant performances, but if you're looking for deep insights, you're better off looking somewhere else."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Director Mark Lamos, specialist in projects that require heavy lifting, cannot find more than surface polish in this trivial pursuit. We keep reminding ourselves of the richness of the playwright's other work and admire the dedication with which a solid cast behaves as if important— or even conspicuously charming—observations were being made. Won't someone please call a moratorium on scripts that begin with the protagonist explaining to the audience, 'This is a play about ...'— particularly when the next word is 'me.' Indeed, this is a 90-minute play about Eddie, whom we first meet during a formal family dinner in which the poor actors must sit at an invisible table and mime their manners."