Death of a Driver
Closed 1h 25m
Death of a Driver
82

Death of a Driver NYC Reviews and Tickets

82%
(56 Reviews)
Positive
91%
Mixed
7%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Absorbing, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Relevant

About the Show

This world premiere from Urban Stages offers a bracing examination of "doing good" abroad, the limits of understanding another person, and what happens when personal and political obligations collide.

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Member Reviews (56)

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891 Reviews | 259 Followers
79
Great acting, Intelligent, Thought-provoking, Absorbing, Entertaining

See it if you want a smart take on relationship differences, both by countries and people, acted very well on a nearly bare stage with good lighting.

Don't see it if you need a full staging to appreciate a good story or you want a happy ending.

754 Reviews | 124 Followers
85
Edgy, Ambitious, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Absorbing

See it if you want to understand something about the complex and often confusing relationships of well meaning foreigners in third world nations.

Don't see it if you like your theater light. This is a serious piece that hits hard where it hurts.

715 Reviews | 108 Followers
88
Absorbing, Great acting, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Intense

See it if you enjoy a very well written and acted drama that takes place in Kenya. Very simple set but very well used. Wonderful character study.

Don't see it if you like a comedy or an elaborate set or don't like a play about conditions or politics in Kenya. Read more

don
506 Reviews | 1000 Followers
88
Absorbing, Great acting, Ambitious, Intelligent, Romantic

See it if Two super performances Writer's note so important for the tale. Love the way the actress separates poss. romantic scenes from action scenes

Don't see it if Not a happy story. The set needs work (ie: to separates sites) see ALSO Read more

544 Reviews | 58 Followers
77
Very well done show. good story. good performances.

See it if You like proactive story telling.

Don't see it if You don't like serious plays about something.

466 Reviews | 237 Followers
97
Resonant, Masterful, Intelligent, Great acting, Absorbing

See it if A trueful and painful story regarding power, gender and change.

Don't see it if Not interested in Africa.

459 Reviews | 117 Followers
83
Thought-provoking, Resonant, Relevant, Must see, Disappointing

See it if you want to see a really thought-provoking show

Don't see it if you don't want to see a show that sets your expectations so high with its topic and description that it would be hard to not disappoint Read more

445 Reviews | 67 Followers
85
Relevant, Profound, Intelligent, Great writing, Great acting

See it if you want a small smart show with terrific character development and two wonderful actors dealing with political & social themes.

Don't see it if the above pros are not your thing.

Critic Reviews (5)

TheaterScene.net
March 5th, 2019

"But something about 'Death of a Driver' never quite catches fire. The story has gravity but lacks the sense of pity and terror that tragedy is famously supposed to invoke. Maybe it's partly due to the fact that the play is so brief, and that its short scenes sometimes take place years apart, creating a kind of herky-jerky quality. Maybe it's because the world of the play is relatively narrow-with the lack of supporting characters preventing us from getting a full sense of the Kenyan culture."
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Theater Pizzazz
March 5th, 2019

"Top quality theater... Snider provides an intriguing and entertaining story that will keep you captivated and intrigued from start to finish...Both Baskin and Ssenjovu’s performances are strong, clear, natural and come from an authentic place...Direction by Kim T. Sharp seems to have allowed the actors to strip themselves of cumbersome paraphernalia and rely solely on their characterizations and dialogue which has been a refreshing choice that suits the play well."
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Broadway Blog
March 5th, 2019

"There's little here that, with a few tweaks, would prevent the play from being set in any third-world country. The debate over the standards foreign companies must follow when dealing with crooked governments…is a universal one about which Snider offers little enlightenment…More promising, emotionally, at least, is his treatment of Sarah and Kennedy's friendship…It's a promise, though, that the play's talky, episodic, time-spanning, mostly actionless plot never quite fulfills."
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StageBiz.com
March 5th, 2019

"Successful in delivering the words with a punch...Baskin and Ssenjovu have two things that are essential to making such a play work. First, both are fine actors...The second thing that makes this work is their chemistry...It isn’t just a case of two gifted actors performing their roles, but of two gifted actors performing as a team...One cannot help but leave the theatre impressed by the power of the show’s simplicity and by the surgically precise execution."
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NYC Splash
March 5th, 2019

"Snider takes care to establish two fully realized characters...When the lights go low for the jail scenes, so does, for the most part, the energy of the play, the intensity of the emotion, the crispness of the pacing. And yet 'Death of a Driver'—with its earnest, resolute characters and rich dialogue, its sharp, human wit, and the deft, physical manner in which Baskin and Ssenjovu navigate the external playing fields—often makes for a gripping, captivating night in the theater."
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