Cullud Wattah NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (51)
See it if you want the most beautifully written, stunningly acted, brilliantly made show about 3 generations of women struggling to survive today
Don't see it if you want comedy, light-hearted fare - this intense play is what theatre imho should be : relevant, necessary, speaking truth to power, great
See it if You you want thought provoking dramas about current events and important issues
Don't see it if You’re looking for an uplifting comedy
See it if if you are interested in new plays that tackle new topics.
Don't see it if this play can feel long because of the topic and understanding the issues around water and lack of clean water.
See it if you are interested in a drama which highlights a serious current event which needs to be resolved
Don't see it if you don't like message plays
See it if you love hugely theatrical plays that both speak to a contemporary issue (in the case the Flint water crisis), are mythic w/GREAT acting.
Don't see it if you only like musicals (though the cast sings at points), you don't like political plays, you don't like Afro-surrealism. Read more
See it if well acted story that needs to be told along with family dynamics
Don't see it if want light fare. subject is serious.
See it if Really interesting piece focusing on the Flint water crisis and the various effects from it. fantastic performances and lighting
Don't see it if A few tweaks here and there but really a great piece of theater that is very timely and important
See it if You want to learn about the unconscionable water situation in Flint and are prepared to be moved and disturbed.
Don't see it if You are looking for a light entertainment.
Critic Reviews (11)
"Inseparable as real-world calamity has become from the realm of art, Dickerson-Despenza’s “Cullud Wattah” is especially suited to a moment of environmental unrest. After the play comes to an abrupt end, the cast stands in silence before leaving the stage. They don’t return for a bow, as if this had not been a performance but a call to account."
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"4/5 stars! Transcends its issue-play roots. Dickerson-Despenza and director Jones personalize Flint's public-health crisis with poetry and feeling; familiar ethical debates and secret confessions seem fresh thanks to lived-in performances, exhilarating language and stunning aesthetics."
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"5 stars! Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s new play, Cullud Wattah, is a gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, masterwork of a production and solidifies her influence in American theatre."
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"It is, in short, a very ambitious work in story and style. Some of those ambitions are better realized than others: The characters, for one thing don't always escape the feeling of being mere mouthpieces for the playwright's themes rather than being fully realized people. Even at its shaggiest, though, there is a generosity of spirit to Dickerson-Dispenza's writing that is powerful enough to transcend its shortcomings."
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If Cullud Wattah suffers from certain structural weaknesses, including a slightly pokey first act, any playwright who can write such unbridled scenes, sparing none of her characters, is someone to watch. Her work is filled with a controlled indignation that commands one's attention.
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"5 stars! Though having to forgo their on-stage applause, Mitchell, Dickinson, Patterson, Pilgrim, and Walker are going to receive it here. There is no first among equals, which may owe their ensemble playing to being on so high a level that there’s no possibility of rising higher. The raised standard is also due to director Candis C. Jones, who thoroughly understands the script’s magnitude and sees to its full realization."
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All of us are probably aware of the problems of polluted water in Flint, Michigan, owing to civic neglect. However, it might shock you to know that it is still going on. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winning play Cullud Wattah takes on this crisis through the prism of one family of three generations of Black women living in the same house. The material is powerful and explosive.
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"Playwright, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, has created a family of five kick-ass women whom you will fall in love with. You will laugh with them and love with them. This tremendous ensemble will have you wanting to join them for a meal, for a talk, a dance. And when they argue, and they will, you will not take a side because Dickerson-Despenza has weighed the arguments so that we understand and feel both sides...At the end of this beautiful powerful production, in the final moments, the actors leave an imprint that is stunning. This is a night out at the theater to remember for years to come."
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