Transfers NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (136)
See it if you want to see great acting and a plot that will suck you in. I would recommend this play to all of my friends if I could, just incredible.
Don't see it if you don't like emotional and thought-provoking plays.
See it if Great play! Amazing acting.. run..
Don't see it if Heavy plays with sad subjects.
See it if You think theatre should make you think, feel, and challenge you. And if you like AMAZING acting. And directing. This is the REAL DEAL!
Don't see it if You prefer mindless entertainment.
See it if you want to see two young, up and coming actors knock it out of the park and a show that is simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful
Don't see it if you don't like foul language or are prejudiced against certain types of people
See it if you are open to the poignant story of two students from disadvantaged backgrounds trying to grab a ticket out.
Don't see it if are uninterested in or not empathetic to the formidable challenges of students from underprivileged backgrounds.
See it if you wonder how two gifted young men vying for a life-changing scholarship to an elite college seek a way out of their South Bronx upbringing
Don't see it if don't want to be moved to tears as I was watching two unique young men struggle with cultural and family baggage to get into college.
See it if You went to a IvyLeague type university, love strong acting and intense writing
Don't see it if you think that the world is living a "kumbaya reality", not ready 2 see Black & Brown kids succeed
See it if Resonant and truthful story about youth. Acting and writing phenomenal and powerful. I would see it again.
Don't see it if If you don't care about human rights and quality of education for all. Great story--very powerful.
Critic Reviews (18)
"'Transfers,' which has been assembled with obvious care and affection, would be a lot more convincing if its characters weren’t so prone to articulate fits of revelation...It often feels drawn from the yellowing pages of vintage American culture-clash dramas and topical 'Blackboard Jungle'-style films. The cast members work hard at overcoming the formulaic nature of their lines but are generally more persuasive in their moments of bristling silence."
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"Thurber's best play to date...Thurber has written very specific characters that are made all the more real by emotionally committed performances...Director Jackson Gay reels us in and riles us up with a taut, well-designed production...Better than any play from this season, 'Transfers' heartbreakingly exposes the unequal distribution of opportunity that we tell ourselves is based on merit."
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"If 'Transfers' is engrossing on a scene-by-scene basis, it doesn't completely add up to a satisfying drama...Under Gay's direction, the entire cast proves adept at charting the play's tricky emotional geography...Even in its awkward passages, 'Transfers' mordantly explores some of the class lines in our society, making it all too clear just how hard it can be to get ahead."
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"It strains credulity but it's a testament to Blankson-Wood and Castano that we're already hooked on where their story is going...Their understated performances, along with their interviewers Brown and Soule, also wonderful, make for compelling theatre about ideas seldom, if ever, talked about in plays...While not perfect, 'Transfers' takes Thurber in new directions in terms of subject matter and plotting, and her genuine affection for her deeply flawed characters shines through."
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"'Transfers' sputters somewhat during the opening expository passages, but it soon runs smoothly as the characterizations of these students come into brighter focus...What helps to fuel the drama is Blankson-Wood’s deeply-felt portrayal of Clarence and an especially blazing performance from Castano as Cristofer...Too bad that some of the other acting in 'Transfers' is spotty, but it’s not so terrible as to impede MCC Theater’s tidy production, which has been neatly staged."
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"Isn’t on its own an entirely successful play. But it forms a fascinating counterpoint to several other recent and noteworthy works...If the grown-ups aren’t quite credible, their climatic debate on the students’ admissions chances in the penultimate scene is even less so. Its results feel structurally necessary but largely unearned, and that keeps 'Transfers' from alchemizing into a play good enough to be worthy of its young subjects."
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"As directed by Jackson Gay, Lucy Thurber's 'Transfers' is both provocative and exhilarating theater. It also showcases two young actors who are great finds. Ironically, this is one of three plays this spring on education and the second on the unequal admissions process for American colleges and universities."
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"It's a worthy theme and Thurber has created solid portraits for the two young men...She's lucky to have two fine actors to portray them...The playwright is further blessed that Jackson Gay is on board to steer them...All these pluses almost overcome the playwright's too schematic storytelling, several credibility-stretching plot holes, and a somewhat too convenient personal back story. These flaws notwithstanding, Clarence and Cristofer's double journey does hold our attention."
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