Usual Girls

See it if you like new voices on current topics; here, girl's sexual coming of age. Realizn of toxic sexuality comes late. Full nudity/flashing lights

Don't see it if you dislike adults playing kids or unnecy shock-value scenes. Humor is mixed w horror. Father sh be cut. Needs editing. But worthy effort.

See it if Very well written and acted. Great story and storytelling. Very thought-provoking and compelling.

Don't see it if You don't care about women's and growing up themes.

Also Underground never disappoints and this was no exception. What a riveting show. Intense and heartbreaking.... Read more Read less

See it if You're interested in intense/riveting theatre. The writing & performances are masterful! Real, raw & relevant.

Don't see it if You are in the mood for something light or fluffy.

See it if You have an interest in seeing women’s issues, particularly women of color, brought to life in short scenes from 3rd grade to adult.

Don't see it if You’re looking for any sort of new insight, or any kind of information that might help you understand why this behavior happens.

Also I wanted to like this play but felt like I was being hit over the head with it. The plot never really took me anywhere except to show me how bad things are for the main character while she takes absolutely zero responsibility for everything, as if her whole life happened TO her instead of WITH her.... Read more Read less

See it if Remarkably original. Sexual confusion of girls growing up from age 8 to 25 while seeking identity in a dangerous world.

Don't see it if You aren’t prepared to be confronted & uncomfortable. Full nudity, bullying, rape, lewd father, drug use.

See it if you would like an intimate look into how a group of girls grows up, explores sexuality, wounds each other, & sometimes gets lost or abused.

Don't see it if you are looking for a quiet night in the theater.

Also Until the last few scenes (there are many!) of “Usual Girls” I’d have said it was among the most impressive new scripts I’ve encountered over the past several seasons. (And, except for the blasting music between scenes, inventively staged.) At curtain call I still felt the play is very strong. But the vivid exploration of the weird secrets of girls growing up &, most especially, trying to find expression for their budding sexuality, felt less fresh when the girls got older. A coked out college-age scene in the ladies’ room, scrupulously staged, made my heart hurt: Have all these once vibrant girls really become so wasted? And the last 2 scenes, while expressing a powerful “MeToo” message, also took away from the central girl, Kyeoung (a phenomenal Midori Francis), some measure of her impressive sexual autonomy which had felt so liberating. Perhaps that is the point, & maybe, too, the deep sadness I felt at seeing her so diminished at last sighting.... Read more Read less

See it if you like relevant works that explore racism, class-ism, misogyny, the pains of adolescence,multi-culturalism, women's issues, 1-act

Don't see it if don't like stories told from a woman's perspective, or trigger issues depicted on stage, or the claustrophobia of Roundabout Underground

See it if The societal high price,the burdens,and the hurdles of women (of colour) endure when achieving selfhood. Lead is excellent as is the writing

Don't see it if Raw portrayal which includes alcohol, drugs, abuse, rape, slurs, and nudity. Drug scene cliched. Could use a polish--leans to superficiality

See it if you want to see an incisive exploration of coming of age as a woman in our culture in a deeply satisfying (and disturbing) production.

Don't see it if you're looking for an escape. This hits home. Hard.

See it if Coming to age play funny and harsh.

Don't see it if Uncomfortable with nudity. See adults play kids.

Also Some parts I rather not seen.

See it if incredible ensemble work, wonderful to see Midori Francis (The Wolves) again. Her performance was shattering.

Don't see it if you don't like to see nudity or sexual violence on stage. Play was sometimes very loud, the screaming echos in the small theater.

Also Wonderful to see such a female centric play. Not so wonderful to be reminded of how cruel girls and boys at various stages in childhood and adolescence can be. Very realistic portrayals. Might be good for teenagers to see it so starkly laid out before them and then discuss with adults. I think that the character of the father is a distraction and should be omitted if the play is reworked. The boys/young men in the play are bad enough to make the points. Why throw this whole other awful situation on Kyeoung? There is so much going on in this play, that felt like overkill to me.... Read more Read less

See it if Most girls growing up receive inappropriate info & unwanted sexual touching; also racist, prejudiced, and unkind behavior. Most survive OK.

Don't see it if You want a more clearly defined plot or deeper exploration of causes and results. Some graphic language and nudity used to make a point.

See it if you know someone in the cast.Has a point to make, but does it in a crass, over the top way.Jennifer Lim was a knockout.Rest of cast was ok

Don't see it if you're looking for insightful picture of this generation's young women, sexuality, peer pressure, cliques.It's all there, just not well done

See it if you want a deep dive into how girls grow up and learn to deal with pervasive misogyny and racism.

Don't see it if you're looking for something light.

See it if An exploration of the ways women grow up. Good cast. Wants to say something profound about rape culture...

Don't see it if ...but doesn’t. The grown women playing 8-year-olds was annoying and false-seeming. A lot of showing of hurt but no insight about it.

See it if you want to see a coming of age story about women that it actually realistic rather than saccharine.

Don't see it if you prefer linear storylines with black and white themes.

See it if you like shows about prejudice, misogyny, problematic psycho-sexual development in some populations in our society today & overt sexuality.

Don't see it if dislike nudity, sexual content, prevalent deviant sexual morays, misogyny, lack of compassion &, prejudice without offering solutions.

See it if Like watching a tampon (usually unseen)ripped out to unapologetically display its raw, gory, natural, painful,& sexualized female experience

Don't see it if Sexual trauma / rape, alcoholic parent, female nudity, Asian racist comments, school girl drama, cocaine are triggering. Loud music scares u

Also Ticket from TodayTix for $30.

See it if You want to see a stupendous, hyper-stylized, deeply honest play about girlhood, female sexuality, and growing up Asian in America

Don't see it if You want to leave happy. You will laugh, but this is an emotional harrowing play. Contains full frontal nudity and sexual violence.

Also An incredibly affecting performance from a vibrant cast (especially Francis and a worldweary Lim). At times the production felt intentionally designed to shock (the flashbang scene cuts, nudity) or gratuitous (Kyeoung's father, especially), but these shortcomings did little to detract from the searing coherence of the arc of a life or the horrors and ecstasies experienced by Kyeoung.

Comparisons to recent plays like The Wolves and Plot Points in Our Sexual Development feel relevant and well-earned, but somehow I felt Usual Girls outshone them, perhaps in its fury. The adult actors (somewhat awkwardly) playing children in the opening scene reminded me something (Log Cabin? no...) but I can't put my finger on it.... Read more Read less

See it if play addresses many important themes including sexuality, racism, girls and women's friendships. Voices that we don't often hear in theater.

Don't see it if you aren't interested in women's stories, particularly a woman of color. If you are a misogynist you'll squirm.

Also There's a lot here. I think all women will relate to some, if not all, aspects of this play. Refreshing and so relevant.... Read more Read less

See it if you are interested in the problems that girls and boys face growing up.

Don't see it if you have a low tolerance to extremely loud speaking and frontal nudity.

Also Sitting in the front row in this theatre was a mistake. The wonderful actors were apparently directed to scream their lines.... Read more Read less

See it if you want powerful writing and performances about a tragically relevant topic: how far do you go to belong when you are different and "wrong"

Don't see it if you are put off by true depiction of people's cruelty to others.This play and its performances have a ring of reality that is quite splendid

See it if You like new works that are more about ideas then a through line.

Don't see it if You like a straight forward plot.

Also There’s an interesting play here, but the production let’s it down. Unsure why the director thought having such unrealistic portrayals of the girls at young ages was a good idea. The first 3 scenes are practically just screaming. Once that passes and the performances get more grounded, the play is much more interesting.... Read more Read less

See it if You're interested in finding out how girls grow into their sexuality, and how society treats them.

Don't see it if You're offended by frank sexual talk

See it if you appreciate smart, sharp, and funny portrayals of girlhood and growing up without shying away from the hard stuff

Don't see it if the exploration of sexually and racially charged experiences would be triggering instead of validating/healing/thought-provoking for you