At the talkback yesterday, it did sound like a few changes were made during previews with what goes on during the final sequence. It did sound like it might have seemed more surreal or otherworldly or supernatural during early previews than it does now. It still seems a bit like what goes on could be otherworldly, but nothing happens during it that would necessarily demand a supernatural explanation, even if one thing that happens does seem a tiny bit unlikely.
If I understood correctly what was said at the talkback, it seems that in earlier drafts of the play, and perhaps even in the draft with which they started rehearsals, there was talk of an actual gargoyle figure on the building that was visible through the upstairs window, and at the end it was going to appear in the window. It sounded like it did appear in the window during early previews, but that was cut. And it sounded like it may have been especially confusing to audiences as by that time earlier discussion of there really being a gargoyle figure there had been cut.
At least that's the impression I got from what Reed Birney said at the talkback.
At the risk of being repetitive, since I already said this in response to mikem, I'll say again that much of the audience seemed to like it a great deal yesterday. The audience certainly seemed held by it. There was much laughter and there were few coughs or other obvious signs of boredom or indifference, at least that I was aware of. The comments during the talkback were very positive. I'm quite sure that some people in the audience did not like it. As I mentioned in response to mikem, a woman in the row behind me was a bit annoying during the play in seeming to want us to know that she wasn't much liking it. But hers seemed to me a minority reaction.
I may be misremembering, but I thought that during previews at least one person wrote here that the subscribers seemed most unhappy with it. Whether it was because the reviews have predisposed people to like it, or because the playing has gotten stronger, or simply because yesterday afternoon's audience was ready to go with it, my impression was that most of the audience liked it and that many of them liked it a great deal.
And I will add that this is one of the best acted productions of anything I've seen in years. I will rarely say of any production that I did not think there was a single false note in the acting, but I would say of this production that if there were any false notes, there were fleeting and insignificant. A beautiful ensemble.
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