A White Man's Guide to Rikers Island NYC Reviews and Tickets

80%

(88 Reviews)

Positive

88%

Mixed

12%

Negative

Members say

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

About the Show

Based on a true story, this account of a privileged white actor who finds himself serving time at Rikers Island offers an eye-opening look inside our broken penal system and a cautionary tale for anyone of any race.

From the play:

After a drunk driving incident leads to an involuntary manslaughter charge, a privileged white actor find himself serving time at Rikers Island, where the population is over 95% people of color. For the first time in his life, Rich is now a minority and his skin color makes him a target. Caught between drug lords, gang members, and his wise trans cellmate, this clueless white man must learn how to survive the violence, horniness, and mind-numbing nothingness that is prison. All while trying to find forgiveness for his crime. Oh, and at the insistence of his Corrections Officer, write A WHITE MAN’S GUIDE TO RIKERS ISLAND for submission to the National Penitentiary Press Competition. Seriously.

Member Reviews (88)

Tiny theater, Slow, Unfulfilled promise, Well-intentioned

See it if you enjoy I-was-there narratives, this one abt life in Rikers decades ago. Strg reminder never to drive drunk. One man play w lots of chars.

Don't see it if you want a searing indictmt of current prison sys. Wh privil angle isn't well-explored. Acting/staging a bit clunky. Humor often falls flat.

Funny, Great acting, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Ambitious

See it if If you want to see a true story about a person who was incarcerated in rikers island.

Don't see it if If you are not interested in a show that deals with incarceration. The white privilege comments get old after a while.

Critic Reviews (7)

“Racial injustice is explored in the confessional A ‘WHITE MAN'S GUIDE TO RIKER'S ISLAND’ at The Producer's Club”
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"'White Man's Guide to Rikers Island' transports the audience from the privilege and prominence of a New Jersey golf club to the cacophony and brutality of New York's Rikers Island prison."
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"The vividly written text offers a starkly revealing view of realities from which most of us are protected…I'm betting that you'll hang on every word. You'll also be left with some ugly truths that are impossible to dismiss."
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"Connor Chase Stewart is enthralling as a young man serving a prison sentence for a drunk driving killing in this searing and dynamically presented drama. The script is a canny blend of finely sculpted autobiography and documentary facts cohesively shaped into a compelling narrative."
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"'[In] A White Man's Guide to Riker's Island,' which in name alone already sends a jolt of electric fear through most of us, we meet young Rich, impeccably played by Connor Chase Stewart, a curly-haired, bright-eyed, earnest young man with an amazingly promising future ahead of him."
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"Playwrights Roy and Webb never lose site of the significance of the young Richard's crime. The ‘Guide’ is not about claiming innocence. It is about Richard's sense of entitlement. His constant refrains, his mantas are: ‘I don't belong here.’ ‘I'm not like these guys.’ I’m better than this.’...Remorse and rehabilitation get lost on mere regret and denial."
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"Stewart navigates the various emotions skillfully: apprehension, worry, crushing disappointment, considerable arrogance, and an ultimate ruefulness. It's a classic fish-out-of-water story. Initially, it's hard to feel sympathy for a brash and privileged white brat, but the fresh-faced Stewart holds one's interest."
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