Fireflies NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
In this world premiere from Atlantic Theater Company, somewhere in the Jim Crow South, the sky is on fire. "Fireflies" is the second part of Donja R. Love's trilogy that began with "Sugar in Our Wounds."
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See it if It is a beautiful a truthful look into a married couples family life either the ups and downs. It’s touching and magical how it connects us
Don't see it if Don’t see it if the nitty gritty aspects of our human existence and relationships don’t hold you heart and interest.
See it if unbelievably intense social issue oriented gripping emotional cathartic drama. heart-wrenching performance by the main actress
Don't see it if you don't want to succumb to overwhelming emotion or have no ability to concentrate
See it if You are interested in the Civil Rights Movement and want to see excellent acting.
Don't see it if You want perfection in every human being...
See it if Moving experience about African-American life in 1963. Interesting twist in the plot
Don't see it if If you have an issue with gay topics.
See it if you are interested in the life and thoughts of a preacher's wife in the Jim Crow South. Unfortunately, the play seems still relevant today!
Don't see it if you don't like plays about conflicts (inter-personal, inter-racial etc.) and like to be purely entertained.
See it if You are interested in African American history during the early 1960s and appreciate great acting and a well written play.
Don't see it if I am unable to think of a reason not to see this play, unless you expect a large cast
See it if you like serious acting chops and consequential drama. These two tear it up and the playwright's pen had to have caught fire!
Don't see it if you're looking to be 'entertained'.
See it if You love great drama and acting. Relevant especially today October 27!!!
Don't see it if You have no empathy and aren’t really interested in great theatre.
Critic Reviews (21)
"Donja R. Love's overstuffed play is compelling at the same time that it attempts to cover too many topics. However, under Saheem Ali's assured and tight direction, Khris Davis and DeWanda Wise give dynamic, mesmerizing performances which command attention for the play's entire length, not an easy feat in a two-character play. And 'Fireflies' will make you want to see the third and last play in the trilogy, 'In the Middle', which is set in more recent times."
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"’Fireflies’ depicts with great verisimilitude the angst and pain incurred by leaders in the civil rights movement for their commitment to social progress...Under Ali's sensitive direction, Wise and Davis are compelling as characters who are conflicted, flawed and believable. Wise, superb throughout, makes Olivia's final monologue — a tour de force of dramatic writing — a theatrical moment likely to stay with audiences indefinitely. Davis is equally forceful here."
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"A two-character emotional roller-coaster set in an unsettling era of political unrest...Although rigorously directed by Saheem Ali, there are a few too many plot twists to make it credible or resonate more broadly. To add to this, the artificially neat, bright kitchen and hyper-dramatized flashes of explosive projections don’t add nuance to the story...Love builds our intrigue to know more about that development, but then immediately drops the topic for the next sensational reveal."
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“Lovely and lyrical...Love’s ‘Fireflies' is disarmingly powerful...Wise is wonderful as Olivia. She maneuvers through the play’s twists and turns with understated grace, going with the flow...As Charles, Davis provides an excellent foil...Ali’s direction is concise and exact...’Fireflies’ is more haunting than exciting. It’s the kind of play that stays with you after the curtain goes down, even though you may not realize it."
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“Khris Davis and DeWanda Wise give impassioned and emotional performances, with many beautiful moments between them staged by director Saheem Ali, including one particularly entrancing dance sequence with choreography by Raja Feather Kelly, and the themes Donja R. Love is exploring within the play sadly feel as relevant to 2018 as they were in 1960s America.”
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“Directed with an emotional preciseness, Ali teases out the layers with a delicate thoughtfulness as the winds swirl around the two spectacular leads wrestling the demons of revolution and frustration of inequality...Surprising and intensely satisfying...The writing is intricate, layered, subtle, detailed...This spectacularly deep piece of writing feels as connected to the heaviness of the world as one could hope for.”
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“Lewis and Wise burn brightly, matching well in their depictions of two vibrant, intensely physical people who do feel genuinely for each other but are also unable to be fully honest...In its portrayal of the larger world in which Charles and Olivia exist... ‘Fireflies’ feels rote and unevolved, lacking all the nuance of the relationship between them...It’s a credit to Love, Ali, and Wise’s rich performance that ‘Fireflies’ never loses sight of her journey and struggle."
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"Wise and Davis are electrifying in their roles. Under Ali’s poignant and surgically precise direction, Ms. Wise and Mr. Davis explore every nerve, every synapse, every heretofore unexplored thought, every previously unanticipated action of their complex characters...This is a tale that needs to be heard, needs to be reiterated, and needs to find as many other iterations as possible."
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