Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Preston Max Allen’s piercing new play CAROLINE sheds a humanizing light on the trans experience

• By drediman
• September 30, 2025
• No Comments

Tonight, Preston Max Allen’s exceptional new play Caroline opened Off-Broadway at MCC Theater’s more intimate Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater space. The play tells the story of Maddie, a lower income mother — and former addict — who flees from her West Virginia home with her trans daughter Caroline when she discovers that she’s been physically abused by her husband. With nowhere else to turn, the two venture to a well-to-do suburb of Chicago to seek the help from Maddie’s mother Rhea. In short, Caroline is a clear-eyed and timely play that must bee seen in our current political and social climate. It’s one of the very best new plays of the season so far.

What makes the play so piercing and powerfully written is how it is built on three exquisitely drawn portraits of women — and in one case, a very young woman — starting as in-depth character studies before stealthily expanding into high stakes drama over the course of its ninety seamlessly plotted minutes. Indeed, Caroline feels utterly grounded in the murky complications of reality, which sheds an intensely humanizing light not only on the trans experience, but also addiction and motherhood at large — all without coming across as didactic in the least. Even days after seeing the play, I’m still left mulling over each of the three character’s arguments and points of view. And although the play ends with a definitive action (no spoilers here), Allen leaves just enough glimmer of hope to buoy the play from tragedy.

Once again, David Cromer proves why he is one of the very finest and most sought after theater directors working today. His focus is on complete honesty; he’s unafraid to use silence and allow conversations to transpire with natural cadence. As such, the play is able to breathe and unfold organically. Last but definitely not least are the performances — all of which are idiosyncratically steely and utterly top notch — starting with Chloë Grace Moretz, who infuses Maddie with a gritty determination around which the play revolves. It’s a tremendously brave performance that really showcases her range. In the title role, River Lipe-Smith gives a quietly luminous and uncannily precocious performance that you can’t help but root for. And as Rhea, Amy Landecker counter-balances the production with a measured performance that’s the epitome of refinement and propriety.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

CAROLINE
Off-Broadway, Play
MCC Theater
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through November 16