A Small Oak Tree Runs Red NYC Reviews and Tickets

79%

(21 Reviews)

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.

Member Reviews (21)

Banal, Slow, Disappointing, Boring

See it if Topic could be interesting but not with this play

Don't see it if Just skip it ...

Confusing, Great staging, Intense, Ambitious, Relevant

See it if You're interested in the early 20th Century South.

Don't see it if You lose patience with not understanding what's going on.

Ambitious, Absorbing, Exquisite, Great staging, Masterful

See it if You want a surrealistic retelling of an infamous event not often told by brilliant actors in great staging deftly directed.

Don't see it if You want a straightforward history lesson.

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.

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, 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

Ambitious, Edgy, Good acting

See it if You are interested in Black history and are not disturbed with dialogue that describes violent lynching that actually took place

Don't see it if You are not interested in Black history and are disturbed by hearing about lynching

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