Aloha, Aloha or When I Was Queen

See it if You appreciate insightful one woman shows about a personal journey.

Don't see it if You prefer ensemble theater with fluffy content.

See it if you want an intimate, very funny show one woman show that doesn't feel like an excruciating experience (as one person shows sometimes do).

Don't see it if it gets a little heavy-handed with its message in the 3rd act, so if you don't want a politically correct show, I wouldn't recommend this.

See it if You enjoy a well written one woman show with a bit of an 80s flashback.

Don't see it if you're not woke... Or maybe it can help if you are not...

See it if you want to experience a quirky examination of appropriation, personal pitfalls, and the experience of being a young angry artist

Don't see it if you dislike solo performance pieces, require visual spectacle, or want to turn off your brain and relax.

Also Eliza's voice is profoundly unique. She is open, candid, hilarious, and insightful. I often roll my eyes when people leave a show saying they related to the characters and story. But Eliza's experiences both growing up with a conservative father, working in non-profit theatre, and struggling with public identity are the most relatable thing I've ever seen onstage. (Bonus: her stories about her husband are HILARIOUS)... Read more Read less

See it if you enjoy intelligent story-telling based on personal experience that sheds light on how our socialization leads to unintended biases.

Don't see it if you dislike monologues or auto-biographicsl plays.

See it if a solo show that elicits great deal of humor from life journey taken by Eliza Bent & all characters she met along the way would thrill you

Don't see it if solo shows, home movies, cultural appropriation, women making less than men for same job would make you unhappy even skillfully presented

See it if you're into thought provoking, personal and personable one woman shows

Don't see it if You're looking for a more active show, as opposed to a humorous exploratory almost discussion.

See it if You enjoy to watch solo shows based on real life experiences. It was a treat to watch the very talented Elisa telling her story.

Don't see it if If you are armed to trash anything that comes from a privileged performer.

See it if you’d like to see a very personable performer ruminate on cultural privilege as it manifests itself within the world of cultural workers.

Don't see it if you’ve seen so many autobiographical solo shows that you no longer respond to them, no matter how heartfelt & important the message is.

Also Can dramatized ruminations about straight white cultural privilege, illustrated with lots of examples lifted from a performer’s own life, presented from a clearly articulated position of partial privilege (straight & white, but female in a world that still discriminates against women in matters of pay, power, prestige, etc.) effectively critique that privilege? I’m not sure. But in “Aloha, Aloha or When I Was Queen” writer performer Eliza Bent gives it an engaging, moderate, heartfelt try. And she almost convinces me. And how can I resist a show with a title like that? (Catch your seat early so you can contemplate the beauties of the textile panel by Elizabeth Chabot that constitutes the chief element of the set.)... Read more Read less

See it if If you like a story about a solo women's life. Funny at times, low key.

Don't see it if with home movies or your uptight about a women who get's a lot of breaks in life.

See it if You love funny one woman shows that deal with the responsibility of being a privileged white woman in American society.

Don't see it if You don't like one woman shows, political pieces, or small scale events.

See it if Stories growing up and life experience. Funny at time and not to long.

Don't see it if One women story, small low key.

See it if You have time

Don't see it if you are sensitive to 'poor me' viewpoints

See it if - You want to see a white girl talking about white privilege. - The knit piece on the set is IMPECCABLE. - For the funny home movies.

Don't see it if You want a minority perspective on privilege: it's another white girl apologizing for her own privileged snafus.

Also This piece missed the mark for me. It's yet another white girl talking about race. I wish she would have focused on her experience as a soon-to-be wife (that seemed juicy!) and stayed as honest as she was during the final moment when she apologizes directly to the audience. I liked the form (one long monologue), but I feel that she got caught up in her own intelligence and forgot to include a over-arching story.... Read more Read less

See it if you want theatre to make you think.

Don't see it if you want spectacle.

See it if you’re her: white, woke, in the entertainment industry; you’re ok w/ solo-shows-as-therapy-sessions.

Don't see it if you don’t feel obligated to laugh & make someone feel approved of when they make self-effacing jokes about occupying positions of privilege.

Also A soul-searching journey by someone trying to do the right thing. But seeing this show as a nonwhite person is like listening to the apologies of an unfaithful spouse who deflects attention away from the effect of infidelity but towards Her penitence, Her redeeming qualities, Her unfortunate social conditioning (toward self-segregation), Her relatable disappointment at the need for restraint (in mimicking ethnic/regional accents). There's a key anecdote in which Bent recognizes the direct pain she caused another (he started it, though). But she wants so badly to be liked, so badly to be forgiven, she'd rather not sit too long w/ the ugliness of her actions. Most of the time is for wooing us with a love-me-I’m-so-self-deprecating self-portrait.

I’d score 25 by my reaction (bored senseless by the childlike persona & standup monologue), but I’m giving a 2x boost because so many others will relate to Bent’s struggle w/ attempted diversity.... Read more Read less

See it if you like great writing, honesty/vulnerability paired with humor and relevant social topics.

Don't see it if you don't like solo shows.

See it if you want to laugh while still thinking about racism and appropriation

Don't see it if ?

See it if you're interested in learning how to unpack privilege in a productive way

Don't see it if you're racist?