Shadow/Land
Closed 1h 10m
Shadow/Land
77

Shadow/Land NYC Reviews and Tickets

77%
(37 Ratings)
Positive
78%
Mixed
16%
Negative
6%
Members say
Absorbing, Great acting, Intense, Ambitious, Thought-provoking

A live staged premiere of the audio drama set in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (37)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
115 Reviews | 19 Followers
100
Thought-provoking, Dated, Absorbing, Great writing, Clever

See it if On audio, credit must be given for the audio production about the hurricane in New Orleans and a family run business. Support the arts.

Don't see it if Complimentary audio review of the production, no harm, listen to a part or two.

60 Reviews | 7 Followers
95
Great acting, Intelligent, Intense, Masterful, Thought-provoking

See it if you want to see a thoughtful reflection eloquently staged.

Don't see it if you prefer upbeat shows.

712 Reviews | 401 Followers
93
Masterful, Great writing, Great staging, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if An important moment in time when government at all levels turned its back on citizens of New Orleans as Katrina devastated neighborhoods.

Don't see it if This topic is very intense & will leave the audience of memories of this terrible event..

91 Reviews | 21 Followers
90
Thought-provoking, Intense, Great acting, Ambitious

See it if you love a talented, small cast working as one. Or if you have never considered the personal impact Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans

Don't see it if you can't handle a dark exploration of this epic event. Read more

98 Reviews | 15 Followers
90
Great acting, Thought-provoking, Absorbing

See it if a play about Hurricane Katrina and a story about the external and internal destruction of a family would interest you. An unusual work.

Don't see it if you don't want to think about Katrina or other natural disasters, or want something light and fluffy.

117 Reviews | 11 Followers
88
Relevant, Great writing, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if You like drama Katrina-style with amazing performances by the 3 characters that is very well staged

Don't see it if You want a fun evening out.

106 Reviews | 12 Followers
87
Thought-provoking, Refreshing, Intense, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if Intense and intimate production that tackles a nation tragedy on the microlevel, giving names, faces, and stories to those affected.

Don't see it if Raw emotional trauma depicted onstage in a small theatre causes you great discomfort.

372 Reviews | 98 Followers
84
An emotional wringer, Well played, Great set design, Suffocating, Devastating

See it if you remember Hurricane Katrina & the catastrophic sequelae; want to see an affecting personal story of a mother & daughter trapped together

Don't see it if you are triggered by stories of large scale disasters (the stage set is so effective that I witnessed a young woman fleeing) Read more

Critic Reviews (13)

The New York Times
May 4th, 2023

"The play tries to take on too much, feeling at times more like a treatise than a character-driven drama, but that’s partly because so much is in danger of being lost."
Read more

Time Out New York
May 15th, 2023

"...'shadow/land' brings the mass destruction into focus by centering on two women...Nothing brings family closer than tragedy, and as mother and daughter watch the water rise around them, long-buried secrets and uncomfortable truths begin to surface."
Read more

The Wall Street Journal
May 4th, 2023

“ ‘shadow/land’ is, according to press materials, just the first in Ms. Dickerson-Despenza’s planned cycle of 10 plays exploring the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the city and its inhabitants. It’s a decidedly promising beginning.”
Read more

Theatermania
May 5th, 2023

" 'Shadow/Land' is only the first play of a planned 10-play cycle about Katrina and its ongoing effects. With this ambitious opening act, Dickerson-Despenza and the Public have set high expectations for a tale of biblical proportions."
Read more

Lighting & Sound America
May 16th, 2023

“It's a richly dramatic situation, played out against a background of climate disaster and massive governmental failure…Oddly, however, shadow/land was more successful as an audio play than in Candis C. Jones' full staging in the Public's LuEsther Hall. This is in part because the script is so packed with references -- to the dance hall's storied past, to complex family relationships, and to events from New Orleans' history -- that it can be hard to unpack in a fast-moving theatre production filled with lighting and sound effects.”
Read more

Talkin' Broadway
May 4th, 2023

“Dickerson-Despenza explains that the play is the first installment in a 10-play Katrina Cycle. As ‘shadow/land’ forcefully shows, the hurricane and its aftermath remain a devastating, painful, and shameful period in U.S. history ..the series of plays should offer a suitable monument to the victims of Katrina and a chance to artistically redress a national atrocity.”
Read more

New York Stage Review
May 22nd, 2023

"The crucial concerns are not so adequately and outspokenly confronted that they raise Dickerson-Despenza’s follow-up Public piece nearly as high as the etched-in-memory Katrina waters rose."
Read more

TheaterScene.net
May 14th, 2023

"shadow/land" by Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a play about the August 2005 disaster, Hurricane Katrina. It is the first episode of a ten-part magnum opus. "shadow/land," though, is more than a play. It is a painfully rich vision of what hundreds and hundreds of stranded rooftop denizens, so touted in the media, must have gone through behind the waterlogged walls of New Orleans. It is the rare theatrical work that recreates the agony and frustration of a natural disaster that transcends the fourth wall, seemingly without artifice, so involving is the entire endeavor.
Read more