CurtainUp
CurtainUp
The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings
HOME PAGE

SITE GUIDE

SEARCH


REVIEWS

REVIEW ARCHIVES

ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP

FEATURES

NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings


LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway

NYC Restaurants

BOOKS and CDs

OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere

QUOTES

TKTS

PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS

LETTERS TO EDITOR

FILM

LINKS

MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Born Bad


God ent really figurin this side a the fence/ y'know?— Dawta
Born Bad
Crystal A. Dickinson
Photo credit: Carol Rosegg)
Born Bad is a speeding train of a play, going at full speed from start to finish; a family zooming towards disaster all within the period of a day — or in theater time, one hour. In the opening scene, a young woman forcefully, repeatedly, tells her seemingly meek father to "say it." He stays silent. Immediately following, she is accusing an older woman, her mother, of exactly what, we don't know. The tone between them is piercing and angry. It's less than five minutes into the play, and already the tension is through the roof.

The cast is a six-person black, British family — a mother and father, and their three children. Each new scene introduces another family member. Their relationship to each other, and to the family issue is what's at play. It won't be revealing too much to say that the conflict is about a past of sexual abuse. Still, there are many unexpected emotional twists and a constant stream of the complex story.

Although the speed of the production is perhaps a little too nonstop — especially when taking into account the British shorthand and slang throughout that is not a given here in the States — the play itself, and the commitment of the performers shines brightly. When watching Born Bad one has a sense that the playwright (the up-and-coming British debbie tucker green) has actually used maybe a couple of hundred different words, with the plot and emotions moving forward by the ways she folds and unfolds these phrases on themselves, creating new meanings and nuances all along. Her skill with language, with phonetics, really, is superb. The cast has really mastered the script, all creating their own interstices within the dialogue.

Born Bad's short length of an hour works in its favor. Much more, and the consistent fervor on stage would have become relentless. As it is, the play is a perfect example of what makes SoHo Rep a theater to always pay attention to, a company not afraid to commit to a play and it's intentions, no matter how controversial or difficult the material.

Born Bad
Written by debbie tucker green
Directed by Leah C Gardiner
Cast: Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Crystal A Dickinson, Elain Graham, LeRoy James McClain, Michael Rogers, Heather Alicia Simms
Production Stage Manager Beth Stegman
Lighting Designer: Michael Chybowski
Scenic Designer: Mimi Lien
Costume Designer: Paul Tazewell
Sound Designer/Original Music: Matt Sherwin
Dramaturg: Raphael Martin
SoHo Rep., 46 Walker Street, , www.sohorep.org 212 941 8632
From March 31 - April 24, opening April 7
Tuesday through Sundays @ 730pm, Reviewed by Amanda Cooper based on 4/5/11 performance
REVIEW FEEDBACK
Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
  • I agree with the review of Born Bad
  • I disagree with the review of Born Bad
  • The review made me eager to see Born Bad
Click on the address link E-mail: esommer@curtainup.com
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V):

Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review.

Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex
For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader
Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter
Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com
put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country.
Slings & Arrows  cover of  new Blu-Ray cover
Slings & Arrows-the complete set

You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company

Next to Normal
Our Review of the Show

Scottsboro Boys cast album
TheScottsboro Boyse


bloody bloody Andrew Jackson
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson


In the Heights
In the Heights


broadwaynewyork.com


amazon




©Copyright 2011, Elyse Sommer.
Information from this site may not be reproduced in print or online without specific permission from esommer@curtainup.com