By Jonathan Jones
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
To any drama teacher in any capacity, if you sit idly by watching representations of your work (be it Glee or otherwise) and think, "This is so removed from my reality that I won't even bother," then Nilaja Sun's No Child... is the play for you.
I had heard about this work last year while preparing for a conference on Theatre and Citizenship at NYU, though my conversations with my colleagues really did little justice to the gravity of the piece. Similar in style to the work of Anna Deveare Smith, this one-woman triumph chronicled the artist's experience as an artist-in-residence at a low-income high school in the Bronx. With much dexterity, Sun morphs from one character to another with such flexibility and finesse (albeit, after five years of performing the work, she should indeed have such command) that the audience was at times stunned into silence, giddy with love and laughter, and audibly shedding one tear after another.
When I directed my first musical at a high school, I was strongly advised to keep a record of every experience given that few are aware of the shear insanity involved in getting a high school production off the ground. I did not take that advice, but fortunately Ms. Sun did, and it was quite possibly the most honest portrayal of the complexity of the life and experiences of an arts educator that I have seen. RUN to the Barrow Street Theatre and catch this masterful performance!
This fabulous work is playing an extended run at the Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich Village. Full price tickets are $40, but TDF members can purchase tickets for $21
www.tdf.org
www.barrowstreettheatre.com/whats-on/nochild2.asp
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