This behind the scenes glimpse of the struggle of class and race while working at the bottom gave me some ptsd from my time at a corporate restaurant. While the town of Paris may be hundreds of miles from NYC, the plight of the working poor and being the “other” will resonate with anyone that’s ever been either (or both). Performances were solid, the bare staging really help bring the material to reality for its 90 minute run time. Paris is an interesting debut play that had us talking about its themes for hours after the final bow.

I think it is very easy to be reactionary to Paris. It press is a lot of buttons in all of us. I think the slice of life plays can truly overwhelm us, therefore I do understand some of the other reviews. I however like theater that deals with something profound about just being alive and how we make it through the day. I think this play touches on this quite well. I think it is well structured and while sometimes uneven in the acting this play holds up. Sometimes the acting is quite a live in vivid. Sometimes it can be a bit forced which can make it seem slightly flat but I think there is the possibility of the actors creating something very real and moving I hope the during the course of the run they will find us

Four years ago, I saw the excellent SKELETON CREW at ATC2. It was about poverty, factory jobs, and race. It was stunning, so much so that I saw it during its second run. I just attended a performance of PARIS, a play with a similar theme. It was a sad attempt in the same category. Miserable and depressed characters either snarling at each other or behaving as human doormats, all with no hope for the future, no redemption, no remorse . . . Is there any need for a take on abject misery, with actors standing in silence a great deal of the time? Unless playwrights have talent on the level of Dominique Morisseau (for the social setting) or Annie Baker (for the presentation), they should avoid this genre.

Poorly written, Paris is banal and stale. It offers nothing new or different.

I was not prepared for how much I would hate this show. There are a couple of actors who are great but wow there was some truly awful acting in this show and the play is... not good. They should not have gone through with this show.