THE HANGOVER REPORT – Martyna Majok’s QUEENS is ambitious, if somewhat unfocused

The company of Martyna Majok's "queens" at the Claire Tow Theater, courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater.

The company of Martyna Majok’s “queens” at the Claire Tow Theater, courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater.

Tonight, Martyna Majok’s anticipated new play queens opened Off-Broadway at the Claire Tow Theater, courtesy of Lincoln Center Theater. I was deeply impressed by Ms. Majok’s breakthrough play Ironbound when I first encountered it as part of the Washington, D.C. area’s wonderfully-curated Women’s Voices Theater Festival a few years ago (it subsequently played the Rattlestick here in New York). To a lesser degree, I found her Cost of Living for Manhattan Theatre Club also affecting, if a tad histrionic and telegraphed.

Which brings us to queens, Ms. Majok’s most ambitious creation to date. It’s also perhaps her least focused effort, which may or may not be by design. Set primarily in New York in the borough of the play’s namesake, this latest work depicts a group of tough immigrant women making a way for themselves in this country. Ms. Majok takes a seemingly disorganized, panoramic approach – the play takes place over the course of a number of decades, across continents, and from multiple perspectives – which necessarily deflates a few of her characters to mere caricatures. Despite the play’s challenges, I applaud the playwright for taking a stab at broadening her toolkit. queens, at three acts with two intermissions, is a far cry from the focused, tightly-structured one act manifestos that are Ironbound and Cost of Living.

The Lincoln Center Theater production is atmospherically directed by Dayna Taymor and is populated by a set of passionate performances from an all-woman cast of seven (most of whom play a multitude of deliberately-etched characters). The play’s central character Renia is played by Ana Reeder in a performance of impressive breadth of tone and color. Even if the other characters lack Renia’s nuanced shadings, they still made for a compelling bunch whose stories must be told.

RECOMMENDED

 

QUEENS
Off-Broadway, Play
Lincoln Center Theater at the Claire Tow Theater
2 hours, 45 minutes (with two intermissions)
Through March 25

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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