The Rape of the Sabine Women, By Grace B. Matthias NYC Reviews and Tickets

“Susannah Perkins’s mesmeric eyes capture you at the get-go. The entire production rests on her narrow shoulders. I’ve rarely seen an actor more perfectly cast nor a character more ideally realized…The high-school setting seems to invite cliché and caricature. The cacophony of all that social referencing plays like a good idea that’s been over-amplified, and some editing would be helpful...All the distractions aside, we remain in Grace’s pocket. We want her to figure it out for us."
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"A wickedly dark comedy about the culture of rape in America...A brilliant production...Hundreds of shockingly relevant, emotional, and funny twists are so expertly tossed in our direction...Perkins gives a standing-ovation performance full of intelligence and bravery that is a must-see...What we end up with is a wildly funny, fearless, and smart exploration of the culture of rape, trauma, performed by an excellent group of actors."
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“Crowley’s characters are all comically off-kilter but their extreme attitudes and language, while occasionally amusing, tend to blur whatever the play wants to say about the historical persistence of rape. The play’s exaggerations…weaken any argument Crowley may be making, and become more about their own theatricality than what they’re saying…Grace is superbly performed by Perkins, who perfectly captures the girl’s naïveté, ignorance, and vulnerability…Also unusually impressive is Jeena Yi.”
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"Though the obviously well-meaning Crowley hopes to encourage audiences to understand the issues and double standards here, and carefully incorporates many particulars of alleged rape episodes to weight his arguments, it’s clearly presented as dark satire. As the first scenes of the play unfolded, I thought director Tyne Rafaeli was intentionally distorting Crowley’s script, pushing the cast into full-force farce. Sadly, also annoyingly, such a comic vein doesn’t work."
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"The playwright attempts to comment on our hypocritical hyper-sexualized 'rape culture,' but his adults are often such cartoon characters that he subverts the message. For me, the impact was also lessened by the ambiguousness of Grace’s experience...Tyne Rafaeli’s direction successfully navigates the play’s complex path. While the play tries to do too much and doesn’t fully integrate its various strands, it is an original. Crowley shows promise and I look forward to his next play."
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"It’s as if the dialogue has been soaked in tranquillisers, then run through a tumble-dryer. Yet the underlying conversational rhythms ring true...Under Tyne Rafaeli’s stylised direction, such deadpan flourishes make 'Sabine Women' into a mordant portrait of a culture in steep decline. Every character is a bundle of cliché and delusion...Yet by avoiding all trace of melodrama and sentimentality, 'Sabine Women' confronts us with the bleak vision that rape is a basic fact of life."
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"A clever indictment of the blinding misogyny that underlies how our society insists on discussing rape, and the damage we all suffer as a result...Crowley surrounds Grace with broad personalities...And he punctuates the storytelling with delightfully campy interludes...Occasionally, Crowley’s insistent satire becomes wearing—he makes his points, many times over—but the excellent ensemble never wavers."
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"Inventive, and powerful...Crowley’s adept sense of comedy and his penchant for lyrical writing are standouts of the production...Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, the production runs like a fast-paced comedy, regardless of the fact that the material is so tragic. Still, the story about the radicalization of Grace is poignant, and uplifting. A rewarding evening of theater about a woman who refuses to remain silent."
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