Review Roundup: BIRTHRIGHT Opens at MCC Theater

Reviews are in for Birthright, the new play by Tony Award winner Jonathan Spector, now in previews at MCC Theater.

Directed by Teddy Bergman, Birthright follows six friends over the course of 18 years after a shared Birthright trip to Israel in 2006. As their lives unfold against a rapidly changing world, the play explores questions of identity, belonging, friendship, and the weight of inherited histories through the lens of American Jewish life.

The production stars Hale Appleman (The Magicians), Molly Bernard (Younger), Tony Award nominee Eli Gelb (Stereophonic), Tony Award nominee Liz Larsen (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Nate Mann (Masters of the Air), and Zoë Winters (Succession).

The creative team includes scenic designer Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costume designer Tony Award winner Clint Ramos, lighting designer Tony Award winner Natasha Katz, sound designer Lee Kinney, projection designer Tony Award nominee David Bengali, wig, hair, and makeup designers Robert Pickens and Katie Gell, intimacy coordinator Alicia Rodis, voice and text coach Gigi Buffington, props supervisor Samantha Shoffner, production stage manager Charles M. Turner III, DEI consultant Nicole Johnson/Harriet Tubman Effect, and casting by The Telsey Office.

Kyle Turner, New York Theatre Guide: In its attempt to sketch an illustration of people whose cultural, religious, political, and national history has transformed dramatically over millennia and has been forced to “meet a moment” in the contemporary landscape, one hopes that more plays will extend such curiosity to other ethnic communities and diasporas facing similar experiences of scrutiny, rupture, and togetherness.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: This review hasn’t mentioned any of the actors because a true joy of sitting through all three-plus hours of “Birthright” is witnessing first-hand where Spector takes his characters. That actor-character relationship should first be seen in the theater, not read in a review.

Average Rating: 90.0%