Head of Passes NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (70)
See it if you want to see Phylicia Rashad in her second performance of a lifetime (1st, Gem of the Ocean) with a great ensemble & an unbelievable set
Don't see it if You want light & fluffy fare
See it if you want to see Phylicia Rashad in powerful, career-defining performance. Her work here is well worth the price of admission.
Don't see it if long monologues and stylized language aren't your thing. The show sometimes gets lost in itself, but the performances are fantastic.
See it if you're jonesing for a great Phylicia Rashad. A powerhouse performance. The play itself was uneven for me. Read the program note first.
Don't see it if you insist on perfection in a play. This isn't. But it is harrowing. As I mentioned, don't see it if you haven't read the program notes.
See it if you want to be captivated by the terrifically intense performance by Phylicia Rashad. The staging is unexpected in the best way.
Don't see it if you prefer light, fast-paced, fun shows
See it if See sterling performances by many actors. Especially Phylicia Rashad and Alana Arenas.
Don't see it if The plot is important to you.
See it if you enjoy powerful performance by Rashad as a modern-day Job, fine ensemble, amazing destruction of house-set to symbolize world torn apart
Don't see it if /since problems with dramaturgy: first act does not prepare audience for second act tragedy, Rashad's powerful soliloquy of pain is overlong
See it if you love airing-of-family-laundry dramas in the vein of August Osage; you want to see the sheer technicality & power in Ms. Rashad's acting.
Don't see it if you dislike plays about faith or dysfunctional families. Or if you are looking for a real punch in the gut--the script is oddly distancing.
See it if A bravura performance by Phyllicia Rashad. Truly one for the ages.
Don't see it if Almost sadistic in its sadness. The heavy Southern accents are sometimes difficult to understand.
Critic Reviews (28)
"In creating the role of Shelah, he has put on stage a magnificent role for an actress of tremendous gifts. Phylicia Rashad rises to Greek tragic heights required by Shelah’s plight. However, the meaning and message of the play remain obscure, which tends to leave the audience outside of the play’s dramatic action. We watch mesmerized in horror as events unfold, but why they are happening and what is the underlying cause remains a mystery."
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"Hardly a problem free play. The final monologue goes on way too long though it's certainly a triumph for Phylicia Rashad. But impressive as Rashad is, her character's most extreme suffering comes off as somewhat rushed...The way she's pushed into the Job persona comes at the expense of a more sympathy arousing portrait of a mother facing unimaginable grief. Still, there's no faulting Mr. McCraney's talent, imagination and courage to explore new forms — or the very fine production."
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"‘Head of Passes’...is an occasionally potent but structurally awkward play...Its principal value lies in watching Phylicia Rashad demonstrate the alchemical power of a great actress turning dramatic dross into theatrical gold. Almost as memorable is G.W. Mercier’s remarkable set...It begins as a realistic family dramedy and then shifts...to magical realism for Shelah’s seven-page diatribe directed at God, which sounds like faux-Euripides and makes the play as lopsided as its act two set."
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"Act one is a fairly standard kitchen sink drama...There’s a lot of buzz, chatter and exposition about who everyone is, and some fine comic moments. But it’s all a distraction from the family and what they feel...Most of the second act is a powerful, tour-de-force monologue by Shelah. It’s unfair that we aren’t weeping at the end of it, but that’s not her fault. Ms. Rashad has laid it all out and left it on the stage. Unfortunately, the play hasn’t set us up to care enough to cry."
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"Rashad takes over the stage with such subtle power that it might even take a while before we become aware of the beauty of her technique...It’s an act of theatrical bravura that redefines the concept of 'force of nature.' Directed with by Tina Landau, and featuring astonishing scenic design by G.W. Mercier, 'Head of Passes,' haunts because of how it subverts tropes we thought we knew well."
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"A well-acted, richly atmospheric production...But the audience’s faith is also tested, in several ways…The ending of ‘Head of Passes’ turns into a long monologue, Shelah’s conversation with God, a challenge for any actress – and, frankly, for any audience. Phylicia Rashad is up to the challenge…Those struggling with their own religious faith might get the most out of the ending…But others will miss the embracing, engaging crowd of characters from Act I."
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"Tarell Alvin McCraney’s 'Head of Passes' is a story about faith that misses the mark on so many levels...The first act is talky and boring, and had I not been reviewing the play, I would have left. Act two however is more of a one-woman show...There is no subtlety, no layering...McCraney’s dialogue goes round and round and round in circles. Tina Landau’s direction is over the top and if any of these people understood true faith, I would be shocked."
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"From the very beginning of the play, McCraney prepares us for a big moment with Cookie; his writing, Rashad, and Arenas fully deliver on that promise. Too often, however, McCraney is less effective at preparing us for these big confrontations…Unfortunately, this playwright’s flair for comedy deserts him...This isn’t tragedy. This is creaky melodrama of the David Belasco variety, and Tina Landau’s direction and G.W. Mercier’s scenic design push it into that unfortunate arena."
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