Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Martyna Majok’s reworked QUEENS returns Off-Broadway, streamlined and newly focused

• By drediman
• November 10, 2025
• No Comments

Last week, a reworked version of Martyna Majok’s play Queens opened Off-Broadway at New York City Center courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club (the play’s first New York outing was presented in 2018 under the auspices of Lincoln Center Theater). In essence, the play chronicles the stories of a group undocumented women who reside in an unkempt basement of a house in Queens, delving into each of their backgrounds, drawing stark parallels and divergences between the trajectories of their lives.

Similar to Majok’s other works (Ironbound, Sanctuary City, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living), Queens bravely illuminates the dire challenges faced by those on the fringes of society. Although the play has been newly streamlined and focused from its previous incarnation, it remains a substantial and ambitious work, complete with multiple narrative threads that traverse across time and space. Although the overall tapestry constructed by Majok may seem a tad contrived — e.g., some of the conflicts between characters at time seem too diametrically opposed — I nonetheless applaud the playwright for shedding light on human experiences that are typically overlooked by most of society.

Veteran director Trip Cullman masterfully orchestrates the play’s various threads into an atmospheric and decidedly naturalistic staging that unfolds the play with both suspense and urgency. The acting by the accomplished ensemble cast of women is arguably the strongest to be found on this side of Bess Wohl’s equally meaty play Liberation on Broadway. Indeed, Queens is uniformly performed with intent and intensity, led by Marin Ireland in a morally conflicted role at the heart of the play.

RECOMMENDED

QUEENS
Off-Broadway, Play
Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through December 7