See it if you like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", Expressionist drama, and want to see Man stripped of Civilization literally and metaphorically.
Don't see it if Explorations of race, puppets, or jungle anguish won't hold your interest. Also, this is a 70 minute one act. Read more
See it if you like O'Neill. Obi Abili is amazing as a tyrant who falls from grace through a roller coaster of emotions, including anger and pride.
Don't see it if you need someone to explain the action to you if a play is not clearly laid out beginning to end; are bothered by racist terms Read more
See it if you never have before. It's gorgeous, thoughtful, & brilliantly acted - faithful to the original work but with an expanded world view.
Don't see it if you can't stand O'Neill or expressionist theatre.
See it if Amazing use of staging and puppetry, Expressive
Don't see it if no reason
See it if a great actor is what you enjoy seeing--as this is it personified.
Don't see it if you need more than an incredible performance because the script, although once considered great, no longer has the complexity or punch it Read more
See it if you want to see an O'Neill play not about his dysfunctional family but about a mad dictator destroyed by the very people he despises.
Don't see it if you don't feel a 75 minute play with puppets and supernatural overtones is for you even though it is a classic O'Neill play from 1920.
See it if you're willing to be swept away by astounding visual representations.
Don't see it if you prefer straight story-telling without abstract symbolism.
See it if powerful, mesmerizing experience that is totally relevant to the world today
Don't see it if you need a lot of plot, get offended by racial denigration, get bored with stage theatrics
"[M]ostly 'The Emperor Jones' proves impenetrable, a wonderful test of stamina for the lead actor and perhaps for the audience as well."
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"Too much praise cannot be heaped upon Abili, who embodies Emperor Jones in body and mind, his taut actor’s intelligence merging with his role. Furthermore, in addition to portraying the viciousness of the character, he makes us feel compassion for this tortured man. Kudos to O’Reilly, whose directing brought about a stunning rendition of this important theater work."
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“A powerful early play by Eugene O’Neill, made even more powerful by its flawless production at the Irish Repertory Theatre…All the wit, energy and anger the character claims for himself is dramatized by Abili in slithering, jolting gestures and subtle and roaring twists of language…Director Ciaran O'Reilly treats the real and the unreal with the same even hand, which makes the downward spiral of the Emperor all the more powerful.”
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“Between the terrific performance by Obi Abili as Jones, and the splendid vision of director Ciaran O’Reilly, this is one of those times when a not-so-good play gets an excellent production, which makes it a don’t miss…Abili gives an astonishing performance as Brutus Jones. His rage, his arrogance, his fear, his regret, remorse, and disintegration are all perfectly embodied. It’s a knockout performance…The ensemble are all terrific.”
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"Arrogance leads to the Emperor Jones' downfall. The last night of his reign unfolds in the Irish Repertory Theatre's riveting production, directed by Ciarán O’Reilly, with Obi Alibi’s hypnotic performance of the title role...It’s painful to watch, but hard not to. What is surprising about a 1920 play that won its author his second Pulitzer Prize is that it chronicles one man‘s descent into madness. O’Neill does not regard humanity or tyranny in black and white."
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“An unforgettable theatrical experience that will stir you and leave you shaken. Abili gives an impressively physicalized, fearless performance…He handles O’Neill’s potentially cartoonish African-American dialect with a more updated street bravado. It works...O’Reilly employs an experiment, having the local people all in masks. The effect is both distancing and chilling. Maybe not having to show their faces also makes it a little easier for actors to embrace this troubling, important work.”
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"The takeaway from the show is usually the tour de force of the eponymous role. But while Abili brings gravitas and intensity to his role, his performance is not the main event. The play itself is, and that’s how it should be...Director Ciarán O’Reilly, with the help of choreographer Barry McNabb, has put together a dark, precise and unforgettable production...Jones never makes it out of the forest—and neither does the audience. The production is precise, terrifying and truly haunting."
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"The Irish Rep production avoids critiquing O'Neill's text but still gives it an insightful, disturbing reading. As Jones, Abili stalks and rasps about the stage with mesmerizing focus and intensity...O'Reilly's production surrounds him with a whirlwind of scenic effects, all of which make the show feel more like a haunted house than an expressionist parable. But Abili shines through all this distracting cheesiness, creating a troubling portrait of Jones that sticks in the mind — and the gut."
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