Was Wendy Wasserstein's Third Number One with Critics?

Playwright Wendy Wasserstein is back at Lincoln Center with Third, which opened at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre on October 24. The show was sold-out before previews even began--thanks to Wasserstein's name and a well-known cast composed of Dianne Wiest, Jason Ritter, Amy Aquino, Charles Durning and Gaby Hoffmann. Did critics think Third was worth cheering?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

William Stevenson in his Broadway.com Review: "Wendy Wasserstein's new play about a college professor who accuses a student of plagiarism is timely, provocative and aimed squarely at Lincoln Center Theater's politically liberal for the most part audience. After a lively first act, however, Third rambles and loses its way... Despite the play's shortcomings, director Daniel Sullivan who also staged Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig and An American Daughter and the cast make it engaging... But, like the invasion of Iraq that may have triggered Laurie's actions, Third feels like a rush job."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "It's the certainty of uncertainty in life that makes Third, directed by Daniel Sullivan, so affecting despite itself. Using the hot button of academic plagiarism to trigger the plot, Third suffers from problems common to Ms. Wasserstein's plays: an overly schematic structure, a sometimes artificial-feeling topicality and a reliance on famous names and titles as a shorthand for establishing character. Less typically, this play's central figure is its least believable, both as written and as acted by the wonderful but miscast Ms. Wiest. Yet Third exhales a gentle breath of autumn, a rueful awareness of death and of seasons past, that makes it impossible to dismiss it as a quick-sketch comedy of political manners. A gracious air of both apology and forgiveness pervades its attitude to its characters."

Frank Scheck of The New York Post: "While Third lacks the strength of narrative and characterizations that marked The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig, it again displays Wasserstein's gift for dissecting the emotional and social states of a certain breed of upscale, highly educated women… Unfortunately, there's a forced quality about the play that undercuts its effectiveness… Nevertheless, Wasserstein's trademark wit - at one point Jameson describes her student as a 'walking red state'--is very much in evidence. Director Daniel Sullivan has staged the piece with his usual intelligence and sensitivity, and has elicited fine performances from the ensemble."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "It's as if Wasserstein is trying to tweak liberal orthodoxies but is afraid to wholly do so. Her liberal is so ultrarigid we don't buy her malevolence, while her conservative is also too virtuous to believe. Wiest is enormously winning as Jameson, especially in a scene where she rekindles her long-quenched affection for the husband we never see. Jason Ritter, who plays Third, radiates good will and equanimity even at his most glum… Much about Third is droll and well-observed, but too often it seems like an essay masquerading as a play."

David Rooney of Variety: "Wendy Wasserstein's new play--her best in years--is thematically richer and more emotionally satisfying than any mere political screed. While the writing strays at times into didacticism, director Daniel Sullivan and his flawless cast extract heartening depths of humor, wisdom and poignancy from this story of a woman's self-reassessment as she heads into the third part of her life."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Wasserstein, author of The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig, is in a reflective mood here. Funny and occasionally biting, the playwright poignantly marks the passage of time, not only for her conflicted heroine but for several of the other lovingly drawn characters on stage... There are no outright villains in Third, directed with a firm, yet graceful hand by Daniel Sullivan. But there certainly are shades of gray, some darker than others. It helps Laurie's case that she is played by the superb Dianne Wiest, an actress of enormous likability. She spars cagily with Third, portrayed with equal charm by a winning and talented Jason Ritter."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "At the surface, Wasserstein might seem to be pressing familiar buttons and picking scabs from her earlier work… As always, Wasserstein's articulate, high-functioning women are still imprinted with the bubblegum romance of '60s pop music. Like Heidi, the feminist art historian, Laurie has a revealing crackup while presenting a lecture. But we prefer to see continuity, not redundance, in the trajectory of Wasserstein's characters. There are times, especially in the beginning, when her need to tie a funny bow on a serious argument seems more like a stylistic tic than a trenchant observation. The interlocking social reference points can feel pat, until they make a sharp turn into deep new territory altogether. There are moments when Wasserstein appears to be trying to stuff too many issues into two hours. Better too many ideas, however, than the season's more indifferent fluffballs."