Familiar

68/100

Photo by Joan Marcus
Written by Danai Gurira. Directed by Rebecca Taichman. At Playwrights Horizons through March 27

What's it About? "It’s winter in Minnesota, and a Zimbabwean family is preparing for the wedding of their eldest daughter, a first-generation American. But when the bride insists on observing a traditional African custom, it opens a deep rift in the household. Rowdy and affectionate, Familiar pitches tradition against assimilation, drawing a loving portrait of a family: the customs they keep, and the secrets they bury."

Consensus: Mostly unanimous on the first act's comedic merits, but mixed on the second act's seriousness, critics seem to overall feel that this show is worth seeing. It doesn't change the game, but it's a solid piece of theatre. General praise is given to the cast, who handle the transition from comedy and drama more effectively than the play does sometimes.





nj.com 88/100
(Christopher Kelly) "'Familiar,'...finds Gurira seamlessly blending farce, social provocation and old-fashioned melodrama to create a thoughtful, tremendously entertaining whole. Gurira appears to be maturing into the kind of playwright whose mainstream accessibility masks an uncommonly nuanced worldview. No one-hit wonder is she."

The New York Times 85/100
(Charles Isherwood) "Although it is just as accomplished, “Familiar” is a play written in a significantly lighter key, even as it probes with subtlety and smarts the subject of immigration and assimilation — a topic of major currency these days."

Time Out New York 80/100
(David Cote) "Familiar is a vigorous, fresh comedy-drama that richochets from raw pathos to bawdy laughs, excavating deep cultural anxieties along the way. Gurira may not reinvent the family-secrets genre, but she makes it speak in musical new accents."

TheaterMania 80/100
(Zachary Stewart) "Strictly speaking, not all of the words are necessary (the play could benefit from some smart editing). Gurira knows how to spin a good yarn, however, so we accept this lack of brevity, as we do with Shakespeare's best comedies."

NBC New York 80/100
(Robert Kahn) "The gold in Gurira’s relatable immigrant story is an insistence on even-handedness and a dexterous way of introducing characters who gradually blossom into complex individuals, with motives anyone can appreciate and respect."

The Hollywood Reporter 65/100
(David Rooney) "The uneven play is stronger on amusing setup than turbulent follow-through, its second-act dramatic turn relying on forced revelations. But the characters and performances keep you glued through to the moving conclusion."

Variety 60/100
(Marilyn Stasio) "the warm feelings generated by this open-hearted play turn cold in the second act. Seemingly unsure of where to go with all the plot possibilities she raises, Gurira makes the worst possible choice of darkening the narrative by revealing unbelievable and out-of-character family secrets."

New York Daily News 60/100
(Joe Dziemianowicz) "The play’s first half is dominated by laughs — some too easy — sparked by culture clashes. But after a big reveal things get serious — and a bit too pointed to be persuasive — as the conversation turns to assimilation and identity and what’s left behind as we move ahead."

Vulture 40/100
(Jesse Green) "For all its worthy questions, its frequent big laughs, and a few good performances, this is a play that leaves you feeling, in more ways than one, unsure where to look."

Talkin' Broadway 40/100
(Matthew Murray) "In Act II, Gurira all but abandons the creative understatement that defines the first act and relies on corny dramatic devices, cliché after hoary cliché, and, worst of all, completely scrambling her characters' brains to nudge her story from tiny to expansive."