"The role drugs play in our society remains underexplored onstage...Ms. Nogueira gets bonus points merely for tackling the subject, even if some of her arguments are a little obvious...You wish the show had spent more time on an intriguing side superpower of sort: the ability to infect others with your mood...Still, Ms. Campbell-Holt infuses seemingly banal scenes with an anxiety-making mood. She also wrings appropriately fidgety, raw-nerved performances from Mr. Simpson and Ms. Lupe."
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"Like much good sci-fi before it, 'Empathitrax' uses a conceptual gimmick to poke at real and substantial questions. Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt, of Colt Coeur, grounds the production in everyday lucidity, and Lupe’s brave performance invites us to recoil from and connect with her at the same time. Bring a loved one if you dare: Unsettling and wise, 'Empathitrax' is the kind of play that could strengthen any relationship that survives it."
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"Playwright Ana Nogueira extends our faith in pharmacology to its ludicrous conclusion in 'Empathitrax,' her imaginative, brutally honest, and emotionally draining new play…Nogueria crafts realistically raw dialogue that is likely to lead some viewers (especially the long-term coupled) to turn away from the stage in pained recognition…'Empathitrax' benefits from brave and committed performances."
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"Playwright Ana Nogueira has a facility for often arch dialogue but not much else. The play’s potentially promising sci-fi premise is undermined by its bizarre vagueness...Ms. Nogueira basically presents two ciphers that are difficult to truly care about. Ultimately, it’s all a hollow and smug exercise. Thankfully there are a trio of talented actors who do their best with this talky and deficient material...Director Adrienne Campbell-Holt’s staging is smooth and makes this murky play watchable."
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"Told with darkly funny storytelling, the show is also inquisitive, comfortably letting questions linger in the air...Lupe and Simpson bring a nervous intensity to their performances…There is a particular irony in the fact that the show sometimes struggles to make the audience feel the intensity of the characters' emotions...In the beautifully redemptive and sweetly funny final moments, the aspects of design come together magically, creating an incredible moment of deep emotion."
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"Nogueira develops her theme carefully. Focusing on a drug that interferes with one’s natural personality traits is not a fresh topic—'Placebo' and 'The Effect' have been there—but Nogueira’s play is still a strong entry in a subgenre of modern drama. And those actors—Jimmi Simpson and Justine Lupe as Him and Her, and Genesis Oliver, who doubles as the Empath delivery man and as Him’s buddy Matty D.—give astonishingly good performances."
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