Fairview

See it if you want to be challenged--face to face (literally)--on societal racism. Solid acting/inventive directn bring multi-layered script to life.

Don't see it if you want a coherent work. Act 1 &2 are engaging (but too long). Act 3 is incomprehensible chaos. Too many ideas, chars, noises, gimmicks.

Also Fairview ends up an amorphous mess, although it starts out strong. The final monologue does not hit its mark, in part because the run-up to its delivery is so unsettling (literally and figuratively).... Read more Read less

See it if A powerful, brilliant, dizzying manifesto on race. Shocking, uncomfortable, brilliant. Unique theatrical experience.

Don't see it if you can't handle confusion nor racial discomfort.

Also Yes, it is confusing at times and its crescendo can be very uncomfortable. But that's the point. Race is not a comfortable clear subject.
It's easy to see why this won the Pulitzer.... Read more Read less

See it if An excellent piece of theatre that tells a story non-traditionally. Keeps the audience engaged and thinking days after the performance.

Don't see it if There are confusing parts but that's the beauty of the show - it forces you to actively engage your mind and see the story below the surface

See it if A play that needs a lot of cutting and reworking. An interesting story on race told in a different way. Acting is good in this production.

Don't see it if If you dont care about a solid plot line or a real quality story. Show starts out well but gets lost at end of second act. 3erd act terrible

See it if Black actors play “white” roles & struggle with Euro culture. Zany fun w/ many creative surprises. Loved the satirical dancing & food fight.

Don't see it if You aren’t interested in race & cultural assimilation. You don’t like weird plays. The last scene fell flat for me. Confrontational.

See it if u want to see one of the most original, astute, penetrating, shrewd, enlightening and, yes, discomforting plays on race u may ever witness.

Don't see it if you refuse to get out of your comfort zone and face the realities of racism, cultural appropriation & inherent flaws in the human condition.

Also I cannot say enough (for fear of saying too much) about this brilliant (and funny and touching and thought-provoking and hard-hitting and complex and important) work of art. Just see it, absorb it, think about it, talk about it, tell your friends.... Read more Read less

See it if Drury's meta-dramatic theatrical piece on race & white privilege (both on & off stage) is dense, chilling, edgy & very funny (until its not)

Don't see it if Divided into three "acts", takes time & some confusion moving through them Seems to lose focus as events spin out of control but KO ending

See it if you’d like to experience the latest sharp, provocative, theatrical cry of the heart (& head) from a thrilling young voice in today’s theater

Don't see it if you are not willing to confront a firm (but respectful) reminder of how stifling white expectations can be for people who are not white.

Also A moment toward the end of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s complex, disturbing, exhilarating new play “Fairview” pierced my (66-year old white male) heart. The teenage daughter of the play’s black family turns to the white woman who somehow has been “playing” her grandma for several minutes & cries NO, & the artifice shatters. All her life the “daughter” has heard a white version of her own life & it has to stop. I’d understood in my head how unfair it is that blacks in the US have been required to operate within the confines of white culture’s version of their stories. I now experienced in all of my body how totally it can smother a person. I felt sick, & that’s good. Theater at its highest is a place we put our culture’s thorniest aspects on trial. If only for that moment, I hope my fellow whites see “Fairview” —& then help with the hard, necessary work of dismantling a system of white privilege that is slowly choking us all. (Go also because the play is funny, brainy & deeply theatrical!)... Read more Read less

See it if you like the unexpected, interest in black playwright's take on racism & surveillance & victimhood, like to see 4th wall demolished,

Don't see it if expect a through story line, uncomfortable with issues of racism & audience involvement, could develop conflicted feelings

See it if you want to see a remarkable, original, innovative play that has an incisive take on race and power and knocks you out theatrically.

Don't see it if you've buried your head in the sand and want to keep pretending that our culture doesn't have a problem with racism.

See it if imaginative & hilarious absurdist send up of racial images/tropes defined by whites; unforgettable revelatory ending

Don't see it if you don't like absurdist plays; message at times is heavy-handed

Also This Pulitzer-Prize-winning play keeps u off balance about race. Initially it takes the form of a broad satire of an upscale black family. SPOILER ALERT: Then the playwright pulls the rug out from under us: suggesting that the initial action isn't real but a sitcom, recapping the action in pantomime (w racist white voice-overs) signaling that these are just images brought to us by white creators; thereafter the play riotously upends convention by substituting 4 characters you expect to be black a hilarious white Eminem-like rapper, not 1 but 2 battling white grandmothers and a cross-dressing white male playing a glitter-queen pixie. They all end up trashing the initially pristine home. What's going on here? The playwright seems to be saying most of what we think about race is a product of media images/tropes where whites tropes dominate black. The final scene where the audience (mostly white) is invited 2 trade places w black family, ending up on stage, is moving & unforgettable.... Read more Read less

See it if As pure issue-oriented social experiment, this is fearless & unforgettable.The surprise stunt audible & implied commentaries are shattering.

Don't see it if As pure theatrical entertainment, the pacing, the structure, and the characterisations are lacking. A little too much of everything else.

See it if See it for the reason I did — due to its Pulitzer Prize win, I thought I “had” to see it. I was wrong! Nice set though.

Don't see it if So much of this play did not work. I would not recommend it to anyone. If someone wanted to see it, I’d say “don’t.”

Also The first act was well done but stilted and weird. The second act you think, “are the actors really going to have to do this again?” The rest of the play was awful. So loud, a big mess, impossible to watch or get anything out of because of the feeling of being assaulted by sounds and light and the chaos onstage. And the last speech did not land for me. Hard to hear anyway and by that point I was annoyed by the previous scene that I had no patience left for anything that this play had to say. Very hard to explain this play to anyone - in the retelling you realize again how unusual and unpleasant the experience was.
(Seen June 22, 2019)... Read more Read less

See it if You’re looking for a seminal play about the racial divide — one that toys with form and style in new, interesting ways.

Don't see it if You don’t want to feel like you’ll need to digest a play for two days after seeing it. It’s definitely a “thinker”.

See it if you're interested in the effects of racism & privilege, wonderful acting, family dynamics, surprises & some audience participation.

Don't see it if you dislike being manipulated; a couple of scenes go on for too long; the ending is unexpected and poignant yet provides no answers.

See it if you want to see an interesting play by Jackie Sibblies Drury. The first two acts are gripping; the last act is a big letdown.

Don't see it if you are uncomfortable with plays about race as well as plays that have audience participation. You could feel very uncomfortable.

Also The last act is a big letdown, yet it includes the most important part of this piece. I don't understand the need for a food fight (the tone suddenly becomes surreal) and then the ending monologue completely loses its impact. The play ends, but there is no conclusion whatsoever. "Fairview" needs a bit of tightening up by the playwright.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see a play that approaches racism through the sly use of metatheatrical devices.

Don't see it if you don't like genre-bending works, especially those that involve audience participation.

Also Apparently the impact of the final scene varies greatly with the audience. When I attended, there was virtually no interaction between audience members and actors and a substantial portion of the audience did not comply with what was requested.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see provocative theatre.

Don't see it if You want to see a well told story.

See it if Relatively normal family life beginning, then racial questions and commentary, which descends to offensive nonsense and chaotic ending

Don't see it if Stereotypical behavior offensive to all, condescending and deliberately provocative in a bad way, exploits racism for no reason

See it if you're interested in a creative theatrical experiment that deconstructs race. It starts off like a sitcom, but then takes twists and turns.

Don't see it if you prefer to see a traditional play. Each of the 3 acts is quite different and ending may leave some audience members feeling uncomfortable

See it if Black actors dance and argue around the stage before the tables are turned on the audience. It all changes in hilarious chaos. Unique!

Don't see it if Can't reveal much, but the white audience is made to fee uncomfortable. I caught on right away, found it hysterical, and enjoyed the ride!

See it if you like new, challenging theater and to follow Drury who is sure to become an important playwright.

Don't see it if you prefer straightforward, easily understood narratives or are uncomfortable being challenged as a white person.

See it if You enjoy being challenged to think...especially about race and privelege

Don't see it if Non traditional theater blended with tradition and racial issues are not your cip of tea.

See it if issues of race presented in an extremely unusual & creative way; like having perceptions challenged

Don't see it if want something straight forward, no surprises; don't want anything with confusing moments or confrontational aspects

Also I wish I had seen this at SohoRep with its smaller audience seating instead of TFANA. Without spoiling, I think it would have helped the ending.
Was hard to hear parts of the ending so that was a little frustrating but maybe frustration with not being heard was part of the message.... Read more Read less

See it if Discussion of race (esp. Black & White) from the White gaze intrigue you. Interesting use of audience participation.

Don't see it if Acknowledging assumptions based on race is very uncomfortable. Mostly about Black-White dynamic, less so for other people of color dynamics.

Also Diversity: lead cast of a Black family (3 women and 1 man).