This Is Modern Art

See it if you are interested in graffiti art or high-octane urban creativity.

Don't see it if you have an aversion to performers performing fast & close.

Also “This Is Modern Art” is half thrill ride, half class in graffiti art. This sounds like an awkward hybrid, but it’s not, because class is conducted by 3 totally committed (beautifully played) graffiti artists who make education almost as exciting as the daring caper they carry off: Painting a mural during a nighttime snowstorm on an outer wall of the Chicago Art Institute’s new wing dedicated to “Modern Art.” The electric staging makes full use of a space that is long, shallow & in immediate proximity to the audience. The sequence in which the team creates its masterwork by piling up pre-painted boxes instead of spray-painting a wall is a nonstop thrill. All the actors are strong. Shakur Tolliver is making his NYC debut: I hope to see a lot more of him. And Andrew Gonzalez delivers a ravishing speech about the peaceful “heaven spots” that the urban landscape provides here & there, a lovely, well-earned moment of rest in the middle of this otherwise physical & psychic tornado.... Read more Read less

See it if You are drawn to an undramatic retelling of real events, didactically promoting graffiti as an art form with a side order of love story.

Don't see it if You would be unhappy to see this inexplicably substituting puzzle solving for the actual art of graffiti writing, within a leaden story.

See it if You look for stories not usually told. You are interested in the history and politics of street art.

Don't see it if You prefer a slightly more polished production (though I recommend this anyway for the purposes of learning and exposure.)

See it if you want to learn about history and purpose of graffiti , interested in theater that is based on true events

Don't see it if you're expecting a big, coherent production

Also It's refreshing to learn about modern history through stage production! However it feels more like work in progress, there is a lot to be workshopped in terms of writing, acting and staging. The stage is wide and not very deep so it was hard to hear some of the text because the actors are all the way to the other side. Loved the music track during the scene where they bomb the art institute.... Read more Read less

See it if You like well-acted plays about real events, people and situations that you know next to nothing about.

Don't see it if You want an obvious ending/moral to a story or don't like small, intimate theaters with imaginative staging and sets.

See it if you like well told stories acted beautifully; you have an interest in graffiti as art; you are interested in stories of urban youth

Don't see it if you can't be open minded about the place graffiti holds in the art world; you aren't interested in stories of urban youth.

Also If you care about diversity in theater this is a must see.

See it if You're interested in art or just want to see a really good show

Don't see it if Graffiti pisses you off

See it if You’re into plays that take a deep dive into the how and why of art and the drive of an artist on the outside looking in.

Don't see it if You’re into conventional narrative fare. You consider graffiti to be vandalism and not art.