Too Heavy for Your Pocket NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (69)
See it if you are interested in viewing life through a lens of those who lived in the period of segregation and how they felt.
Don't see it if you are not interested in historically based performances by a SUPERB cast!
See it if you want to see a wonderful, meaningful, well acted play.
Don't see it if you dislike stories about what Afro -Americans suffered in the US in the 1960's Read more
See it if you want to see four outstanding black actors in a play written about the black experience in the 1960s but still relevant
Don't see it if you have no interest in the trials and motivations of two black families
See it if Wow! Wow wow wow! What performances! A small story that personalizes an important event in American history.
Don't see it if This show was amazing. Only those with no heart at all could fail to be moved.
See it if you're interested in significant subjects like civil rights, economic struggles, and marital stress. The acting and singing is superb.
Don't see it if you prefer light comedies or musicals. This is a serious play addressing serious issues in a thoughtful way.
See it if You like plays based in historical events, are not uncomfortable with American Civil Rights theme, enjoy committed ensemble performances.
Don't see it if You need lots of scene changes, you are uncomfortable with some of the truths of the Civil Rights Movement, you thrive on “happy” plays,
See it if you want a play about two pairs of black friends struggles with living in 1961 Nashville. One of them decides to join the Freedom Riders.
Don't see it if if you don't care about seeing a play about black struggles or if you don't know or care to know anything about the Freedom Riders impacts.
See it if You want to see a story about a period of American history rarely portrayed on stage. An fine study of four black friends in 1961 Nashville.
Don't see it if I would not miss this powerful play.
Critic Reviews (11)
"Stylistically old-fashioned, it feels as familiar and earnest as a pew. And yet its formal conservatism almost seems daring when paired with content that many may find, as I did, illuminating and moving...'Too Heavy' dramatizes questions of class difference within the black community that rarely get broached onstage...When Mr. Holder gets too earnest about it, the play bogs down...Intermittently, a fine production, directed with verve by Margot Bordelon and handsomely designed."
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"Even in the stronger second section of the play, Holder can over-sugar his characters—the domestic quarrels approach soapiness—and Bordelon has the actors perform broadly, which can be startling in a space as small as the Roundabout Underground. But Okafor has a beautiful quality of stern patience, which carries us through the more sentimental sequences. She seems to age before our eyes, her happiness turning into a deep, steady disappointment."
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"Holder is putting his finger on something powerful, something that Fight for Freedom narratives don’t necessarily get at: Protesting is a privilege...Holder’s prose does occasionally tip toward heavy-handedness. But it’s a credit to Bordelon’s deft touch and to Okafor’s raw power that here the notes ring true...As the characters struggle for air, so do we. Inhaling and exhaling in a room together: It’s the simplest reality of theater and sometimes the most important."
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"The play and this production bristle with ideas that bring fresh news to a familiar tale...Director Margot Bordelon’s sensitive staging honors that intimacy in its no-nonsense, fuss-free simplicity and elegance. Most important is the astonishing caliber of the four actors in these roles, each drawn as if by a laser printer, with no small amount of help from a gifted writer who will be amazing to watch as his work grows."
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"Better than any play I've seen on the subject, 'Too Heavy for Your Pocket' examines the role of class in our nation's civil rights struggle...All four actors deliver excellent performances...Director Margot Bordelon balances the conflicting tones of the play through an even-keeled production...We grow to love the four characters, which keeps us invested in a play that occasionally meanders to the point of dullness."
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“Holder artfully entangles the four characters in a web of secrets and resentments...At the same time, ‘Too Heavy for Your Pocket’ is an acute picture of lives transformed by larger social forces...The process by which the characters fight their way toward some kind of solid ground is illuminated by Bordelon's observant direction and four first-rate performances...A lively, powerful piece of writing supported by a band of interesting new talents.”
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"This is an exceptional work, one that will dive-bomb into your head and your heart...Directed with fierce intensity by Margot Bordelon and featuring a stellar cast...'Too Heavy For Your Pocket' is remarkable for the depth of its exploration of a tumultuous time in our history. Playwright Jiréh Breon Holder has managed to captivate the audience by examining issues of race, gender, power, faith, and politics without ever losing sight of his characters."
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"A terrific cast of four, under the sterling direction of Bordelson, must be credited for making this play a thoroughly worthwhile and memorable experience...A compelling narrative that is mainly revealed through a young man with a mission...The action is cleverly staged in and around the kitchen setting that allows for other locations. It is the feeling of home and kinship that pervades even as we see how impulsive decisions, no matter how righteous and well-meaning, alter perspectives."
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