"Danai Gurira's penned a terrific story about the emotional struggles of an African family who moved to America...Mr. Tippett and Ms. Tunie take the top slots in this play among an already great cast of actors...Ms. Gurira needs to tighten this leaky ship, however. Too long. Far too many unexplored paths dropped on us and never quite explained...A very entertaining look at a not-so-familiar problem within the context of family."
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"Gurira has written a wonderful, universal play. The themes she explores in 'Familiar' are timeless, yet it's the details about this family and their roots that distinguish it from other family dramas. I call it a drama, but laughs abound…This is particularly noteworthy now, as many of the plays I've seen recently have felt unremarkable…'Familiar' pops. The performances are stellar, and Gurira's writing is smart...It's a modern classic."
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"Oh man did I love this play...The real drama lies between the parents of the bride and her aunts as they consider how assimilation has shaped their family...If this all sounds heavy, rest assured there’s a heavy dose of comedy that keeps things very interesting...While there is a Big Family Secret in Act 2 and sort of hijacks the end of the play, I think this piece would be just as strong without that burst of plot because the familial relationships and dialogue are so rich."
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"The first act of Gurira's play is full of solid exposition and clever writing. The game cast do well to make the audience feel like they're watching a family. Unfortunately, the action goes off the rails once the roora ceremony begins in earnest, and neither the playwright nor her fine company are able to right the ship...However, if there is one reason to recommend 'Familiar,' it is Tamara Tunie's gripping, committed performance."
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"Ms. Gurira, having left the audience doubled over with laughter with that scene at the end of Act I, takes a daunting risk in Act II by turning serious...The story’s resolution may seem a bit pat at first glance, but if you listen carefully to the dialogue, you’ll realize it’s just the opposite. And there is humor, even in the characters’ darkest moments."
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"It’s the cross-genre conflicts that trip up the production as it careens from sitcom to melodrama to political tragedy to human comedy...Each of these characters has enough backstory for a play of his or her own, but the multiple narratives only get stacked up, never coalescing into a thematic whole. And when a deep family secret is revealed, triggering questions of home and identity, you feel you’re in an entirely different play. The performances are all over the map, too."
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"Gurira hooks theatergoers early with this play, one which certainly has moments of levity. This is a new work and it might be pared down a bit as, upon occasion during the first act, the proceedings ramble on just a bit. The essence of it, though, is intriguing as it ranges from intimate through moral through socio/political topics. It is insightful and its author obviously has pondered considerably."
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"A diffuse, sentimental, sometimes funny, sometimes touching work-in-progress, 'Familiar' in its world premiere at Yale Rep, could use cutting. Its initiating action is the impending wedding of Tendikayi, a lawyer living the American Dream...Along about the middle of the play comes an over-extended Zimbabwean ceremony that seems as endless as the 34-year reign of that nation's president-dictator Robert Mugabe...The actors give us the essentials, although they're not always intelligible."
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