Toni Stone NYC Reviews and Tickets

"'Toni Stone' is at its considerable best whenever, like its main character, it’s at its most unconventional. The spiky rhythm of Pam MacKinnon’s direction; the unvarnished quirkiness of the eight-man ensemble supporting Ms. Matthis; the astonishing, dancelike movement (by Camille A. Brown) that expresses the game without mimicking it — all contribute to the feeling that we’re learning something new, but also in new ways...Ms. Matthis’s characterization holds everything together."
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"Unfortunately, this play seems more intent on theatrical frippery than telling a compelling story...The writing's presentational style becomes too cutesy by far...The story theater-style approach doesn't serve the esoteric material well, and anyone not already familiar with the subject matter is likely to feel lost at times...The performers' frequent miming of ballplaying moves, which at times morph into full-blown dance, eventually proves more tiresome than invigorating."
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‘Toni Stone’ Review: A Pioneer of America’s Pastime Lydia R. Diamond affirms her status as an exciting, serious writer with this play about the first black woman to play pro baseball.
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"Compelling, solidly performed, must-see play...April Matthis gives a stunning, highly polished performance as the literal-minded Toni...Director Pam MacKinnon captures the social tensions of the era and shows how racism permeated Toni's life off and on the field...More than just providing illuminating theater and timely social commentary, 'Toni Stone' gives long overdue credit to a woman who had to fight as hard as or harder than any man in her sport just to play the game she loved."
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"Toni Stone's story is a unique and telling one in American culture. The strength of Diamond's play comes in the parallels she draws between the bouts with racism that bond the woman with her teammates and the sexist attitudes that separate them. But a clearer narrative is needed before Toni Stone proves worthy of its inspiring subject."
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"If nothing else, 'Toni Stone' unearths a fascinating, underreported aspect of baseball history while simultaneously delivering one of the more memorable heroines of recent months….it unearths a story one instantly wants to know more about; the most difficult thing about it is that it leaves one wanting rather more than it offers."
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"There's also lots of small talk, very small, and in the process, we don't really get to know Toni, or anybody, very well. She's strident and confident and defiant, and Matthis plays her with not much variety...'Toni Stone' should be about empowerment and fighting the odds and being one's own person at all costs, and what baseball fan wouldn't like to know more about the Negro Leagues? That's all up there, but it's so muted. Diamond's rambling dramaturgy keeps bobbling the ball."
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"Matthis, who has a wonderfully elastic face and moves with an athlete’s sense of casual, contained power, manages to combine a wry quality with utter guilelessness; her Toni has no real agenda other than to play ball...It’s ripe subject matter, but over two acts that run two hours and change (not including an intermission), Diamond and MacKinnon sometimes fall back on clichés and, yes, rambling, diminishing its weight."
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