Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj’s LITTLE ROCK is well-intentioned but diffused

• By drediman
• August 2, 2018
• No Comments

The ensemble cast of Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj’s “Little Rock” at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to catch up with Off-Broadway’s Little Rock by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, which is currently playing at the beautiful Loreto Theater at the Sheen Center for Thought and Culture. The play with music, which has been running in New York since early June, tells the true story of Little Rock Nine, the first crew of black students to attend one of Little Rock’s formerly-segregated high schools.

It’s a potentially powerful story, thorned with unimaginable trials and tribulations tied to the South’s uncomfortable history with race relations. Unfortunately, Mr. Maharaj’s well-intentioned play is only intermittently potent. The sweeping, episodic nature of the play truncates these nine incredibly brave students’ individual experiences into clichéd sound bites that are only superficially affecting. By sacrificing the opportunity to delve deeper into their respective personal heroisms in favor of a more panoramic collage of short, pointed scenes, the cumulative impact of Little Rock is regrettably diffused.

The production is also directed by Mr. Maharaj, and it’s handsomely realized and solidly acted. Although I found some of the direction to be overly-fussy – I would have preferred a staging that emphasized nuanced monologues over cinematic urgency – I was pretty impressed with the polish of the production’s projection-heavy execution. Additionally, despite the sketches they’ve been given, the hardworking ensemble cast did well to infuse as much passion and vitality into the material as they could.

SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED

LITTLE ROCK
Off-Broadway, Play
The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through September 8