American Son (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (387)
See it if You want a gripping drama that just doesn't let up and that delivers a sucker punch in the end. Cast is top notch
Don't see it if You want an upbeat, light show. You don't like shows about race or issues that this country deals with on a daily basis Read more
See it if you want to see directly the impact of race in America and the struggles that appear on all sides of the equation
Don't see it if you don't like plays or plays that have extended periods of silence. Or if you aren't interested in race relations
See it if you want a moving theatre experience. Want to experience an excellent actress with a very good supporting cast. New story, new themes
Don't see it if You are offended by yelling and, at times, over emotional actors.
See it if You want to learn about a contemporary issue through a family
Don't see it if you do not want to deal with the emotions of a family in crisis
See it if a tense 90-minute, intimate drama about race, family, love, and loss set against a dreary backdrop of internal and external storms appeals.
Don't see it if expecting full-blast action or spectacle that may otherwise come with big names like Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, and Jeremy Jordan. Read more
See it if you want to see a 90 minute gripping drama done in real time with superb acting about racial issues set in a police station
Don't see it if you lack patience to follow the play through it's journey. It is 90 minutes with no scene changes building to an intense conclusion
See it if you are interested in understanding why Black lives matter and what white privilege is. Also, Kerry Washington is amazing!
Don't see it if you don't think Black Lives Matter.
See it if While the subject matter is an affront to our so-called enlightened society,this play showed the raw emotions of a couple trying to deal wit
Don't see it if IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE SUBJECT MATTER WHICH I WON'T DISCLOSE BECAUSE IT IS VERY REAL TO AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THIS COUNTRY. Read more
Critic Reviews (50)
"Most of 'American Son' consists of them stewing and agonizing while they attempt to find out what has happened to him. This gives the audience plenty of time to notice the contrivances and bald devices that are employed liberally throughout...Kenny Leon's direction maintains a brisk pace, but both of his stars struggle with their one-note roles...Demos-Brown's script adds little to the conversation, and the awful conflicts at its heart are diminished by a series of mechanical twists."
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"A well-made play devoid of elaborate technical or narrative tricks...A chessboard play, one where the characters are motivated more by what the author wants to say than what their inner lives dictate...Demos-Brown is so eager to get complacent white audiences to face up to the racial divide and be more conscious of how the world looks on the other side of it...If 'American Son' peddled that message with stronger characters and less chess-piece-moving, it might reverberate more loudly."
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"With its ripped-from-the-headlines plot, deliberate arguments, and crystal-clear-from-the-start ending, 'American Son' would have made an excellent episode of 'Law & Order.' It’s eminently watchable...Leon directs with the smooth efficiency befitting this procedural-style work, and the cast—Washington and Pasquale are especially fine as parents whose emotions ricochet from angry to anguished to afraid and back again—wrings just about all the drama they can out of the newsprint-thin script."
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"It feels almost irresponsible to pan a play as well-intentioned and laser-focused on timely and vital subject matter as 'American Son'...In his admirable but misguided determination to cram our country’s wretched record of racial injustice and polarization into an 85-minute play, Demos-Brown seems more focused on dropping in obvious historical and cultural references than he is in character development."
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"Appealing, but hollow inside...Playwright Christopher Demos-Brown sketches these little flares of institutional racism and microaggression with some skill – even if he over-eggs the pudding...It’s important to have a Black Lives Matter drama on Broadway now; I’m just not sure 'American Son' is the one. It tells us things we already know, in language we don’t believe, spoken by characters we never get to know."
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"Taking the racing pulse of these jittery times with such head-on forthrightness is what gives the play its powerful, ultimately shattering charge...The play is not always subtle, but in that sense it also mirrors the reality of living in a dramatically polarized America...The actors keep even the more forced or digressive passages from falling into obvious grooves...'American Son' derives its depth of feeling primarily from Washington...The sheer force of her performance has a powerful effect."
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"Kerry Washington and the fine cast make the most of their choice roles under Kenny Leon’s solid direction...Demos-Brown’s biting dialogue, smartly delineated characters, and the propulsive real-time action all have their technical virtues but in totality add up to a mechanical and unsatisfying experience. It’s ultimately a rote exploration of contemporary issues that pushes the right buttons to little impact...A decent police procedural with political overtones."
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“The slowly uncovered revelations are at times too heavy handed...especially Kendra's lengthy monologue about...her feelings of victimhood...I thought Jamal always being the single non-white student at the private schools he attended a bit of a stretch. Still Demos-Brown is to be commended for the interesting and highly dramatic way he draws us into the conundrum of race as it affects all Americans and their sons and daughters.”
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