"Thrilling writing. But as the play further complicates its story in the second and third acts, it loses control of its effects. We are offered too much information for the frame to contain, even if it’s vital...It can do little more than check the boxes on its trenchant to-do list. This puts excess pressure on the production to provide coherence, but Taymor’s direction opts for suggestiveness rather than clarity...For all that, 'queens' is still a notable work, or maybe several."
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"A complicated tragedy, layered like a Russian nesting doll. The play doesn't entirely work: It's overwritten, characters can grandstand, and the text's humor struggles...Taymor loads the play with significant pauses-even melodrama. Some performances have real grace...But for the most part, they are still ladies-in-waiting; a round of edits and a greater sense of life onstage would be needed for them to become the queens they deserve to be."
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"The most honest dramatization of the immigrant experience to come along this century... On top of delivering an authentic story of women moving thousands of miles from home in order to provide for their families, Majok and director Danya Taymor make us feel the consequences of that difficult decision...Reeder gives one of the most soul-shaking performances of the season as Renia...A fascinating look into immigrant life in America, and a crucial reflection of our values."
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"It's not exactly the American immigrant dream romanticized in history, but in the most culturally diverse spot on the planet in Majok's understatedly strong drama, it's the opened-eyed reality...Majok's preciseness in writing different forms of their imperfect grammar and pronunciation provides a poetic mosaic of sound...While it's a lengthy play with no linear plot, director Danya Taymor's ensemble is excellent, as the evening provides an intriguing profile."
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"Majok's script is rife with cut-to-the-core lines...Captures the women's sense of otherness, of some shame and some fear...Seven actors give us ten characters. Each is pitch perfect...Lots to like, even love here. But, still there are the nearly inevitable second act problems...The payoff is intentionally ambiguous. While intriguing, it is not satisfying...It has power and passion and laughter and pathos."
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"Majok finds poetry and pain, and expresses the triumphs and injustices of women who are so often invisible in our country...Majok imbues these women with warmth, dynamism, and the tantalizing sensation of something possible...They are also quite funny. The political undertones never overshadow the human beings...The talented cast runs with the characters...If there is a weakness in the play, it comes from the Inna storyline...Feel more a plot device than fully developed arc."
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"Majok is unsentimental in her portrayal of these characters, who are not always likeable. But she helps us understand them, these ambitious, intelligent, often witty people...Yet that understanding only goes so far. Many of the choices by the playwright and director Danya Taymor as the play unfolds make the audience work harder than we should at figuring out who is who and what is going on...Still, 'queens' is an admirable production."
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"The jumping back and forth between years and places is occasionally confusing...As a collection of character studies, the play succeeds, but as a coherent narrative, it needs work...Danya Taymor has not been entirely successful in keeping the audience aware of when each scene takes place. Despite its flaws, the play offers a welcome glimpse at a group that has too often been overlooked."
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