The Rolling Stone NYC Reviews and Tickets

81%

(185 Reviews)

Positive

90%

Mixed

10%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Relevant, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Intense

About the Show

Lincoln Center's U.S. premiere is an intimate yet explosive family drama about two Ugandan brothers at odds - one a gay man in a secret relationship, and the other a church pastor.

Dembe, a college student in Kampala, Uganda, has been secretly seeing Sam, an Irish-Ugandan doctor. He longs to tell his family about their relationship, but his brother, Joe, is a rising church pastor who rails against the lifestyle Dembe is forced to conceal. And to make matters more precarious, a local newspaper has begun to publish photos of faces, and the names and addresses of gay men so that they may be hunted down and imprisoned or killed.

Member Reviews (185)

Disturbing, Relevant, Thought-provoking, Intense, Great acting

See it if Family struggles to survive religious intolerance & public vilification of gays in 2010 Uganda. Felt a bit like Miller’s “The Crucible”.

Don't see it if Old themes in a new setting. I was surprised to learn that homophobia has gotten worse in Uganda because of American missionaries.

Intelligent, Intense, Great acting, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if you would like to see how human rights issues are influenced by religion in another country, well-written, superbly acted with some song.

Don't see it if you are not open to love - understanding it, respecting it and sharing it or you do not care to be a concerned member of the human race.

Critic Reviews (17)

"Piety Laced With Poison in the Uganda of 'The Rolling Stone.' In this latter-day variation on Arthur Miller’s 'The Crucible,' the young British dramatist Chris Urch creates a portrait of gay love under siege."
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"The Rolling Stone Goes for Big Feelings Over Rigor"
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"Morals and Monologues in 'The Rolling Stone' and 'Mojada.' New plays by Chris Urch and Luis Alfaro center on a gay man in Uganda and a Mexican immigrant in Queens, each facing dangers."
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"The writing doesn't live up to the importance of the subject matter."
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"'The Rolling Stone' Recounts an Antigay Witch Hunt in Uganda. Chris Urch dramatizes a call-out culture with deadly consequences."
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"The contemporary drama bookshelf is positively groaning with coming-out dramas, but in very few, if any, are the stakes as high as in 'The Rolling Stone'...Remarkably, [it] is Urch's second play; even this early, he looks like one of the season's great finds."
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"Don't be misled by the title. Playwright Chris Urch's 'The Rolling Stone,' opening tonight at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, is neither about Mick Jagger nor the U. S. popular culture magazine which bears that name..."
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"★★★★ 'Fear and Loathing in Uganda.' The compactly written drama pointedly depicts a modern-day society blighted by ignorance and hate."
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"★★★★ 'Gathering Moss and Facing Danger in Uganda.' A vital and harrowing new play by Chris Urch looks at a young Ugandan's struggle to conceal his homosexuality."
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"Chris Urch's gripping new drama is inspired by real events in Uganda in which gays were outed in a local newspaper."
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"It is not until the second act of Chris Urch's 'The Rolling Stone' that the play catches fire but from then on the drama is explosive, compelling and very disturbing. Once the play gets past the introductory exposition that sets up the plot, the production by Saheem Ali is tense and involving."
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“These unquestionably dramatic circumstances…are only occasionally brought to convincing theatrical life. The dialogue, which can be riveting when characters are in direct confrontation, can also be self-consciously witty or poetic.”
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"Chris Urch's powerful play derives much of this powers from the excellent performances of the actors, especially Blankson-Wood, Edwards and James Udom."
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"From this horrific slice of...history, Urch has created 'The Rolling Stone,' a new play beautifully directed with passion and spirit by Saheem Ali ('ATC's Fireflies'). It sparkles like Mercury, specific and low down in the trenches of a Ugandan family balancing their church's moral code with their own."
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"…uses these true events of homophobic hysteria only as a backdrop to a fictionalized story that focuses on an 18-year-old gay Ugandan. And that counts as a missed opportunity...feels like a play from an earlier era."
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"A stellar acting ensemble brings Chris Urch's play to life, begging us to question why we continue to hate when it's so much easier to love."
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"Urch's greatest talent is in drawing all of his characters as completely multi-faceted human beings, and not just Dembo (whom Ato Blankson-Wood brings blazingly to full-bodied life)."
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