A Small Oak Tree Runs Red NYC Reviews and Tickets

80%

(21 Ratings)

Positive

81%

Mixed

19%

Negative

Members say

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

About the Show

Inspired by the true story of the 1918 lynching rampage that followed the death of plantation owner Hampton Smith, this New York premiere offers an unflinching look at one of the shameful periods in US History.

Shackled, bound, and trapped within someplace between reality and make believe, lies swollen-bellied, bloodied Mary Turner, the accused murderer Sidney Johnson, and the loving husband Hayes Turner. All are haunted by the voices of the mob. Their torture continues even in the afterlife, where Sidney has reluctantly been given the task of forcing Mary to remember the horrible accounts of her lynching so they both can move on.

Show-Score Member Reviews (21)

Superb acting, superb staging. this is a must see theatrical production.

See it if you want to be moved in so many directions. The acting and the writing.

Don't see it if You don't want to be reminded of our horrible past in the treatment of black Americans. Read more

Entertaining, Edgy, Great writing, Profound

See it if you're into historical truths

Don't see it if the topic of slavery and lynchings makes you cringe.

Intense, Profound, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Relevant

See it if you want a powerful exploration if how little race relations have changed in the last 100 tears.

Don't see it if you're looking for a light-hearted production

Privilege to have been in the theater, Great staging, Relevant, Magnificent performances, Hard truth telling

See it if You are ready to confront the ugly racist truth of Jim Crow so as to make change You want to see an intense & disturbing performance

Don't see it if You want something light or if you are in denial about the nation's racist history and continued systems of racial oppression Read more

Absorbing, Great acting, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Riveting

See it if You like black theater, historical theater, thought provoking theater, & aren’t averse to being shown the shameful parts of American history

Don't see it if You want to feel completely comfortable with your theater, or if you dont like historical theater.

Relevant, Great acting, Absorbing, Dizzying, Ambitious

See it if You are interested in a story about lynching in America. Difficult but worthwhile and moving. Great acting.

Don't see it if You are triggered by portrayals of violence, or are not interested in intense stories of black history.

Intelligent, Profound, Relevant

See it if You are woke. You understand the problems of racism today exist because black voices have been violently silenced for so long.

Don't see it if You aren't ready for the tears to flow over all the innocent lives murdered in our history. Ties in strongly to today's systemic violence. Read more

Absorbing, Ambitious, Edgy

See it if Very difficult to review this play as it was about a horrific topic.I found the characters somewhat difficult to understand at times but you

Don't see it if if you like a large cast and predictable endings.It was neither.Also stories about lynching which it is about.About America's history. Read more

Critic Reviews (1)

"Flawed and devastating...The script has its problems, and so does the staging — repetition, sermonizing, a blurriness...Still, the play has a forceful, painful impact...The style, before it shifts into didacticism, evokes a nightmare...The play insists that a reckoning with the past will loosen history's noose, that the truth will set us free. That's a comforting moral after the infanticide. I'm not sure it's one I believe."
Read more

Trailer

Creative team