Hit the Body Alarm NYC Reviews and Tickets

"The show takes imprisonment as its theme...But the extracts from the classics don’t relate especially well to the monologues, and the monologues don’t relate especially well to each other or to the John Zorn music that underscores them...If the textual collage isn’t particularly engrossing, at least Ms. Brown is. She’s a spiky actress and an unaccommodating one, who prefers to needle audience members rather than oblige them."
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"The magic lies in how the piece transports us to intricate fantasy worlds with just a few (seemingly) simple elements...Once one gets accustomed to the 'exposed theatrics' aesthetic, 'Hit The Body Alarm' is incredibly approachable and easy to follow. While deeply intelligent, the performance never purports to be some heady, 'holier-than-thou' experimental piece, and pairs its found texts in ways that enhance, rather than mystify or unnecessarily complicate, their meaning."
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"Investigations of the human condition persist, as the performance journeys from the netherworld to the mundane...Winsome Brown approaches her monologues with candor…Brown utilizes the tech without forgetting the power of the spoken word…Co-Director Brad Rouse trades spectacle for the essential truth of the actor. Deep spiritual value is discovered. ‘Hit The Body Alarm’ is not a quest without just cause. It is plain, serious, and ripe with meaning."
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"The Milton and Joyce sections are linguistically rich and resonant, and Brown revels in the language, savoring its meter and rhythm, delighting in its imagery and the myths it evokes…The shift of styles here feels right but occasionally a little show-offy…Still, that range is what enables her to strip the last two sections down to the bone…Eve and the failed-actress-turned-prisoner–and Winsome Brown–are beautiful, vulnerable, and terrible all at once, and it’s a powerful combination."
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"Brown is more than capable of commanding the heavens with her powerful stage presence and the ability to wield volcanic energy…Winsome Brown created, wrote, co-directed, and performed this new piece of theatrical mythology. She clearly has great vision and the ability to draw in a team of astounding humans…Brown is just magnificent to watch in action as she expands and contracts with the universe to show us the story of how we can so easily find ourselves in black holes."
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