Review Roundup: RASHEEDA SPEAKING Opens Off-Broadway

The New Group continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the New York Premiere of Rasheeda Speaking by Joel Drake Johnson, helmed by Cynthia Nixon in her directorial debut. This production features Patricia Conolly, Darren Goldstein, Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest. Opening night set for tonight, February 11 at The Pershing Square Signature Center.

Despite their differences, Ileen and Jaclyn have developed a real bond in the six months they've worked together at the front desk of Dr. Williams' office. When the doctor decides to get rid of Jaclyn, he enlists Ileen to help him find fault with her. Jaclyn, sensing betrayal, turns the tables, unleashing a chilling power struggle in this incisive and crisply funny look at the unspoken tensions buried inside our "post-racial" America.

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Charles Isherwood, The New York Times: Office politics are a headache for anyone working in the land of cubicles, copiers and water coolers, but they rarely rise to the four-alarm-fire levels of tension on view in "Rasheeda Speaking," an incendiary but improbable play by Joel Drake Johnson that rather ham-handedly raises ever-topical (sigh) questions about the prevalence of ingrained racism in America. The play...stars the equally terrific Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest as co-workers in a doctor's office, and has been directed by Cynthia Nixon, herself a terrific actor. It mostly holds the attention -- despite such fascinating topics of contention as the proper place for a hole-puncher -- but not always for admirable reasons.

Jennifer Farrar, Associated Press: When the subject is racism, many people start to feel uncomfortable. Defensive or outraged; pick your side. It's not a neutral topic, and "Rasheeda Speaking,"a new play by Joel Drake Johnson, doesn't sugarcoat...Oscar-winner Wiest and Tony Award-winner Pinkins are both masterly in their portrayal of once-friendly co-workers in a doctor's office...Pinkins is gloriously committed to her character...Pinkins makes Jaclyn both appealing in her situation and off-putting with her increasingly confrontative actions. Nixon's taut direction allows for silences that are as tense as when the women are arguing. Wiest makes Ileen seem so fragile and sensitive and just plain nice that the audience is more sympathetic to her, as the tension increases and humorous moments give way to hostile exchanges...Johnson has a gift for writing natural-sounding dialogue, and both women are gifted at shading the meaning of every line as their relationship breaks down.

Marilyn Stasio, Variety: Cynthia Nixon...makes an assured directorial debut in the New Group's "Rasheeda Speaking"...Dianne Wiest and Tonya Pinkins, two of the finest actors in the business, ably assist in Nixon's first helming effort, although why these talented pros chose to waste their gifts on this mean and nasty play is something of a mystery...It's a well-known fact that Wiest can play anything...Here she displays her mastery at playing sweet neurotic wrecks like Ileen, who is one of those timid souls people love to push around. It's a rich, full-bodied performance, from the meek little voice to the gently curved spine that defines a born victim, forced to live and doomed to perish in a cold, cruel world...Pinkins having a comic field day in the role, she's also a joy to behold. Lips pursed in silent rage, eyes blazing with intelligence, she makes Ileen the surrogate villain for a lifetime of personal and racial indignities and deliberately drives her crazy. It's terribly unfair of her, but, damn, Pinkins makes her funny.

Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter: Themes of office politics and underlying racism are provocatively if awkwardly handled in Joel Drake Johnson's comedy/drama now being given its New York premiere...Rasheeda Speaking never quite manages to put its ideas across in sufficiently coherent fashion, but it offers many arresting moments along the way...The characters' interpersonal dynamic are endlessly intriguing...But...the work proves repetitive...The playwright seems to be raising more questions than he can answer...That it works to the extent that it does is a testament to the two lead performers who handle their roles with impressive technical and emotional finesse. Wiest, playing a seeming milquetoast, carefully lets us see Ilene's passive-aggressive tendencies, while Pinkins leavens Jaclyn's more overt hostility with frequent doses of tart humor.

Adam Feldman, Time Out NY: ...the racially charged atmosphere thickens fast in Joel Drake Johnson's Rasheeda Speaking, an acidic depiction of race, power and friendship...Blending darkly awkward workplace comedy with intense racial tension, Johnson's office-politics thriller is not afraid to push buttons hard. If the writing is sometimes single-minded, the leading actors balance it-and each other-with transfixing complication. Directed by first-timer Cynthia Nixon for the New Group, Wiest brings innumerable layers of translucence to her dithery character...And the fearlessly uncompromising Pinkins...makes Jaclyn implacable in her opacity and determination to outplay a world that would otherwise determine her.

Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News: "The doctor will see you now" takes on a whole new meaning in "Rasheeda Speaking," a comedy-drama that's jagged, jolting and just plain terrific. It's also an acting master class, thanks to peerless performances by Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest, who play clerks in a surgeon's office. That medical setting makes an ideal place for Chicago writer Joel Drake Johnson to dissect evergreen themes of race, office politics and power...In this claustrophobic universe, Johnson's dialogue is sharp and probing...Cynthia Nixon, who makes her debut as a director...guides the cast through twists and turns, ups and downs with surgical precision. Wiest, with her one-of-a-kind voice and body language, completely convinces as she goes from apologetic and accommodating to apoplectic. Pinkins nails all of Jaclyn's many moods: combative, contrite and cunning. Both stars squeeze every delicious and poisonous drop from these juicy characters.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post: Playwright Joel Drake Johnson tends to overdo the racial elements (Jaclyn herself looks down on her Latino neighbors), but he makes sharp points about how people get lumped in a group -- the "Rasheeda" of the title is the name some white riders on Jaclyn's bus give to all black women. Johnson also has interesting things to say about workplace dynamics, and mines an intriguing gray area between drama and comedy. Under Nixon's direction -- her debut -- this New Group production relies too much on sitcomy effects, trading malaise for laughs. But it's a joy watching Pinkins and Wiest square off. The former crafts a portrait of a shrewd survivor, while the latter makes Ileen a meek casualty of her own passivity. When it comes to its stars, this workplace battle ends in a draw.

Matt Windman, AM New York: It takes just a few seconds for playwright Joel Drake Johnson to head into battle in "Rasheeda Speaking," his dicey new drama/black comedy depicting race relations in the contemporary workplace...in an outstanding production directed by actress Cynthia Nixon, which features superb acting from Dianne Wiest and Tonya Pinkins..."Rasheeda Speaking" is a thought-provoking drama about how racism can suddenly become an issue in our everyday lives. It is just as discomforting as it is gripping...Two-time Oscar winner Wiest delivers an acutely sensitive and truthful performance, while Pinkins is nothing short of terrifying as her character plays mind games with her co-worker and assumes command of the workplace.

Vulture: When a play is about race, should the playwright's matter? I found myself asking this question after seeing Rasheeda Speaking, a wild ride and a welcome surprise from the severely hit-or-miss New Group...The author, Joel Drake Johnson, is a fixture of Chicago's theater scene...But he's little-known here, and perhaps that's just as well. It was often too easy to approach Bruce Norris's race-baiting Clybourne Park through the knowledge that he is white. If you're like me, though, you will have to struggle to sort out your feelings about Rasheeda Speaking without being able to take offense at Johnson's whiteness or cover from his blackness or context from anything else that may be true about him. In any case, it's a wallop of a play, brilliantly acted by Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest, that leaves you scrambling to puzzle out its implications on your own.

David Finkle, The Huffington Post: Joel Drake Johnson is a sly one. At first, his Rasheeda Speaking -- directed by Cynthia Nixon with her own sly touch in a very impressive directing debut -- looks as if it's going to be a straightforward office comedy. But the play...slowly transforms into something much deeper: an unflinching delve into entrenched racial prejudice...The need for more plays like this one is harshly asserted...Because Johnson's script is so meticulously nuanced, nuanced performing of it is obligatory. All four actors amply supply what's demanded. Wiest...is her usual masterful self as Ileen gradually implodes. So is Pinkins, who meets the is-she-lying-or-isn't-she? challenge as if confidently balancing on a tightrope...Any number of playwrights have addressed these ingrained problems over the years, but none has done it with the seemingly poker face that Johnson has. He's written a must-see play that sneaks up and grabs the throat.

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Photo Credit: Monique Carboni

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