Michael Gene Sullivan’s Comedy Enlightens with Laughter by Barry David Horwitz There’s a very big character in “The Great Khan” and it’s the Khan, himself, played by a wonderfully funny Brian Rivera. Playwright Michael Gene Sullivan uses the bigger than life Khan to channel a timely and important idea. The idea is that we…
Millennial Notes Tim Cowbury Provides Bitter Insights into Refugee Crisis by Jordan Freed Usually, a Kafkaesque dive into the absurd world of the political asylum system would absolutely be my kind of play. But in “The Claim,” British playwright Tim Cowbury is so focused on pushing our limits, the story itself suffers. Language is…
Millennial Notes Harrison David Rivers Reveals an Outsider’s Self-Doubt by Javon Blair We Americans put intense pressure on each other to conform and follow the herd. When we break away from strict guidelines, others will remind us to “straighten up” and “fly right.” We internalize identities that don’t really fit us. But who are…
Suzan-Lori Parks Spotlights Overlapping Black Histories by Patricia L. Morin In her 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Suzan-Lori Parks creates a fantasy shared by two brothers, reflecting their confrontation with American racial conflict. She mingles the Civil War with conflicts today. It’s shocking in “Topdog/Underdog” how slavery blends so perfectly with our waves of brutality…