Several student audience members even left at intermission, perhaps feeling ill-suited on that particular evening to deal with the sardonic musings of deeply unredeemable characters. However, the majority of the audience not only stayed but remained utterly captivated by the show, and were among some of the first to sign up for Pig Iron’s mailing list.

Though the show was both logistically impressive and demonstrated a good deal of professionalism, this particular piece was not endearing. Though the play’s language was at times very witty and very funny, it was difficult to watch such overwhelming cynicism, especially for those viewers who seek theater to uplift the spirit.

Hell Meets Henry Halfway was an exercise in how not to live life, but the abundance of style and lack of humanity left some feeling empty rather than galvanized or inspired to change.

Hell Meets Henry Halfway certainly forces audiences to feel something, which may be an accomplishment in itself in this era when so much art fails to even elicit a response from the audience.

But audiences should be cautioned that this theater ensemble that will make them a little uncomfortable while inspiring them to rethink their modern lifestyles. Here is a play some will love and some will hate; but audiences can be sure that they will respond to this play—just not halfway.

—Reviewer Kiran K. Deol can be reached at deol@fas.harvard.edu.