The Twenty-Seventh Man Show Poster

The Twenty-Seventh Man Critics’ Reviews

A Soviet prison, 1952. Stalin's secret police have rounded up twenty-six writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears: Pinchas Pelovits, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wrestle with the mysteries of party loyalty and politics, culture and identity, and with what it means to write in troubled times. When they discover why the twenty-seventh man is among them, the writers come to realize that even in the face of tyranny stories still have the power to transcend.

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About The Twenty-Seventh Man

A Soviet prison, 1952. Stalin's secret police have rounded up twenty-six writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears: Pinchas Pelovits, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wrestle with the mysteries of party loyalty and politics, culture and identity, and with what it means to write in troubled times. When they discover why the twenty-seventh man is among them, the writers come to realize that even in the face of tyranny stories still have the power to transcend.

Reviews

critics reviews Critics’ Reviews (5)
A collection of our favorite reviews from professional news sources.
Associated Press

"[Director Barry] Edelstein is blessed with a uniformly excellent cast."

Associated Press

Jocelyn Noveck

The New York Times

"Set largely in a prison cell, where time drips slowly by as a handful of writers await their fate, the play, which opened on Sunday night at the Public Theater, certainly captures the clammy sense of entrapment that finds the men slowly pecking away at each other’s foibles to pass the long hours."

The New York Times

Charles Isherwood

Entertainment Weekly

"Director Barry Edelstein uses the relatively tiny set well, shuffling the blocking enough to ward off stagnancy without ever letting the actors clutter. The acting is top-notch, particularly from Zien..."

Entertainment Weekly

Keith Staskiewicz

Backstage

"Director Barry Edelstein perfectly balances a growing sense of menace with leavening lightness. The atmosphere he creates is indeed horrifying, but there’s just enough humor to make it bearable."

Backstage

David Sheward

The New York Times

"A first-class production and a first-rate cast..."

The New York Times

Charles Isherwood

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