"There’s a lot going on in Danai Gurira’s new play, 'Familiar'. So much so that it’s initially very hard to figure out where this thing might be going...Her power lies in her ability to elucidate the complexities and intricacies of culture clashes with strong dialog and complex characters...It will very likely bring new audiences to the theater for these very important plays, and offer them an uncommon, novel and re-animating experience."
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"'Familiar' is not a perfect play. It is uneven and rangy. The position of a central character appears to change from moment to moment. There are more plots than you can shake a stick at. Still, through all of that there comes a clarion call. These people are us and we are them...Gurira’s specificity is so refined that ultimately this story reaches across barriers of race and clutches us…We are more familiar to one another than we know. It is this vantage point from which Gurira writes."
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"It’s a smart, oft-profound work that leaves one with more questions than answers, but it’s a welcome breath of fresh air as well...For as much as its premise might touch on genre conventions that make it sound like 'My Big Fat Zimbabwean Wedding', there’s much more to 'Familiar' than that; from its elaborate tableaux depicting upper middle class, to its sensitive, but transgressive takes on race and immigration, it’s a play that serves food for the soul and thought alike."
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"There’s a lot stuffed into the play, perhaps too much...This kind of very conventional, very realist play doesn’t generally appeal to me...At the same time, it’s often extremely funny, with the sharp humor that comes from keen character observation. It’s genuinely emotionally affecting. And, it adds something new to a familiar conversation by the simple act of repurposing the formula to showcase the stories of an African immigrant family."
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"Laughter, tears, anger, and misunderstandings are the components...So are the ultimate revelations of long-kept secrets...These latter, in fact, turn the play too sharply in the direction of melodrama, and, while appealing in the way hidden facts about characters we care about always are, nonetheless smack too strongly of dramatic contrivance...Also familiar is the thematic issue of assimilation..But Ms. Gurira deploys these elements with...masterful skill."
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"Funny, insightful play about a Zimbabwe family living in Minnesota...Gurira’s perceptions go far deeper. Her unfolding of the family dynamics feels like genuine insight, and it is not limited to the issues facing immigrants...Not every moment works in 'Familiar'...But on the whole, as directed by Rebecca Taichman with a uniformly able cast, 'Familiar' presents the story of these specific immigrants as a familiar stew flavored with some sharp and special spices."
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"'Familiar' is affecting...What makes this play special is that Gurira constantly throws in little twists that turn what could have been caricatures into more complex characters...The acting under Rebecca Taichman's nimble direction, is all-around fine...This is one case where I'm celebrating the play more than its players. For Gurira has shone a light on parts of both the black and the immigrant experiences that too often get overlooked."
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"The play is busy, and over-populated...but it also takes an amusing, compassionate look at an issue that should resonate with people of many different backgrounds...With so many characters the show sprawls...Toward the end, a shattering revelation is tossed in from left field, abruptly darkening the tone of the play. 'Familiar' certainly has its flaws. But, well-acted and exuberant, it does capture the possibilities for fun and fury when you’re a hyphenated American."
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