Sugar in Our Wounds NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (47)
See it if you want to see a beautiful story filled with poignant moments and amazing acting. The direction was perfect.
Don't see it if you can't handle a real portrayal of racism during the civil war. It gets intense and could be too much for some to handle.
See it if you want to see great acting telling a story we know nothing about. I had never given any thought to homosexuality during the Civil War.
Don't see it if if you are averse to simulated sexual acts and curse words; otherwise see it!
See it if I was so taken by the joy, pain, love, and the personal connection of the people telling this story. It’s magical and gripping.
Don't see it if You may not want to witness the blossoming of gay relationship or to feel the pain of loss. It is moving.
See it if seeking a well-crafted story where every character belongs, every word soars, and nothing feels superfluous; a story of black/queer history.
Don't see it if you’re homophobic, racist, or need total realism, since this play does ask you to believe in magic a bit. (Really, though—it’s so worth it.) Read more
See it if You're into surrealism, with historical research. Small, intimate, beautifully staged, work of art and {black} love. Heart-warming and gut-
Don't see it if Wrenching. You root for the couple. All 5 actors are good. Almost 2 hours, but, goes by. Lots of "N"-word and slurs. Be advised! Must see!
See it if Despite the brutal confines of slavery, they find ways to be true to themselves, find their heart songs, and experience love.
Don't see it if Slavery or "N word" are triggering. Gay / queer and Black Lives Matter themes annoy you. Read more
See it if You want to see an incredible piece of theater involving a love story that couldn’t really come alive during the Civil War.
Don't see it if You absolutely cannot stand civil war era dramas. One act plays are tough for you to sit through. Read more
See it if you're intrigued by the concept of a moving and heart-wrenching look at queer love in the Civil War south.
Don't see it if you’re looking for something light or if intense historical dramas don’t appeal to you.
Critic Reviews (14)
“Fantastically moving and not entirely persuasive...An old-fashioned weepie written in lush, poetic dialect...Its techniques are melodramatic. Its assault on the tear ducts is aggravated. And yet its message is unimpeachable...The script might have been stronger if it had wrestled with its conflicts and explored its desires more truthfully, less ahistorically...A hurts-so-good kind of play, which congratulates the audience for sympathizing with its hugely sympathetic lovers."
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"The playwright has taken ethnographic pains to expertly capture the speaking patterns of his characters, and director Saheem Ali weaves together a world that feels like real life, even when the action branches into the supernatural. His ace collaborators include costumer Ayite, choreographer Moultrie and hair and makeup designer Cookie Jordan. Together with a uniformly wonderful cast, they movingly convey 'Sugar’'s central message: Love prevails even in a hopeless place."
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"Regrettably, once he makes a big business of bringing the two lovers together, the playwright has little else to say about slavery, the South or the war...Knowing that the love story of Henry and James is part of a grand dramaturgical design gives it more weight. But experienced on its own, the romance speaks its name but moves on without leaving any echoes from its moment in history."
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"Exhilarating performances spring from the dramatic tension of the script. Love smartly sets his story in the months before the Emancipation Proclamation, as a whole way of life is on the brink of collapse...Performance and design come together in director Saheem Ali's production, takes full advantage of the high stakes to create a world that is simultaneously enchanted and all too real...’Sugar in Our Wounds’ implausibly manages to find love in the most terrible of circumstances.”
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“A handsome and well-acted production…An ambitious drama...This is a play to celebrate what was beautiful in an ugly world, rather than dwell on tragedy or otherness.”
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“The play, directed with angry sensitivity by Saheem Ali, possesses a folk tale’s disturbing enchantment, which rises to horror in a final scene that unfolds when Henry returns to the family after he’s had to flee a potential lynching as the result of a rape claim Isabel makes after he declines her advances...Zooms in on a moment in American history that should ideally be deep in the receding past but isn’t. That may be the play’s truest power.”
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"Director Ali steers this production along a narrow path that runs between the realistic and the fanciful, ensuring that the five fine actors do justice both to what's straightforward and to what's exotic in Love's often poetic, sometimes banal, script...Berry, always convincing as the wisest soul on the plantation, would be reason enough to see 'Sugar in Our Wounds'...Thanks to Berry's Aunt Mama, audiences will recall this tale of bigotry and thwarted love for its humor as well as tragedy."
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"Through this story of adversity, the ensemble brings the audience much laughter and hope...Saheem Ali's direction is top-notch, taking into account the many layers of coded speech and meanings among oppressed people. Every line and facial expression produces immediate reactions...Michael Thurber's original music and Darrell Grand Moultrie's movement shine through in many spiritual songs and dances."
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