I Became We Off-Broadway Reviews

*CRITIC'S PICK* Pirnot’s seemingly autobiographical “I” may be full of anxiety about her dawning wishes, which run counter to everything she has believed about herself, including a childlessness she had long since chosen. Yet epiphany is epipha...

*CRITIC'S PICK* Pirnot’s seemingly autobiographical “I” may be full of anxiety about her dawning wishes, which run counter to everything she has believed about herself, including a childlessness she had long since chosen. Yet epiphany is epiphany. And when revelation comes, you want it to sound like all of heaven is breaking open.

But just when I Became We tips into exhaustion, enter the secret star and 17th choir member: child soloist Paige Nesle, of the NYC Children’s Choir, representing an adult Pirnot reverting into childlike vulnerability in the aching “I Don’t Know...

But just when I Became We tips into exhaustion, enter the secret star and 17th choir member: child soloist Paige Nesle, of the NYC Children’s Choir, representing an adult Pirnot reverting into childlike vulnerability in the aching “I Don’t Know” (performed with mezzo Helen Karloski). There’s a moment where Nesle shuts her eyes after she blunders a note but soldiers on with her mousy lilt. Whether in error or calculated acting, this moment touches a big theme of I Became We: There's no choice but to move on from the imperfect.

Near the end of the 70-minute show, a seed planted in the opening moments bears fruit with the appearance of a 17th choir member (the preternaturally poised Paige Nesle at my performance) who shifts the material into a whole new direction: plaintive ...

Near the end of the 70-minute show, a seed planted in the opening moments bears fruit with the appearance of a 17th choir member (the preternaturally poised Paige Nesle at my performance) who shifts the material into a whole new direction: plaintive but hopeful, initiating a clear-voiced call-and-response with the full choir that will leave you dewy-eyed. It’s an astonishing moment of pure, goosebump-inducing beauty that taps into the pregnant possibilities of change. I Became We is a singular achievement, a choral masterpiece that is thoughtful, smart, funny, and frankly unforgettable. It contains multitudes.

On one hand, I Became We is a little story about educated, reasonably well-off, white people’s problems in the metropolis, so it may not appeal to everyone’s social conscience. On the other, a sophisticated chamber musical of this quality is a ra...

On one hand, I Became We is a little story about educated, reasonably well-off, white people’s problems in the metropolis, so it may not appeal to everyone’s social conscience. On the other, a sophisticated chamber musical of this quality is a rare event and should be grabbed with both hands.

Coen’s score also features solo and quartet numbers. These usually underscore more intimate moments in Pirnot’s monologue, when she gets introspective or another character offers words of wisdom. (Under Sarah Benson’s direction, lighting design...

Coen’s score also features solo and quartet numbers. These usually underscore more intimate moments in Pirnot’s monologue, when she gets introspective or another character offers words of wisdom. (Under Sarah Benson’s direction, lighting designer Tuçe Yasak adds to the intimacy of these moments by discreetly spotlighting individual performers.) He saves his most memorable stylistic coup de théâtre, though, for a concluding number in which a child (Paige Nesle) walks onto the stage and performs a duet with an alto in the context of a phone conversation in which the narrator finally confesses her increasingly complicated feelings about motherhood. In a show that offers a brilliant demonstration of the power of music to make deeply personal feelings broadly accessible, this moment carries the force of a universal epiphany.

The tone throughout I Became We is mostly chipper and cheery, but it also has moments that are quite tender, especially as the show explores deeper questions about the purpose of our lives and what we will leave behind when we are gone. These quieter...

The tone throughout I Became We is mostly chipper and cheery, but it also has moments that are quite tender, especially as the show explores deeper questions about the purpose of our lives and what we will leave behind when we are gone. These quieter moments, when the narrator is spending time with her husband and with her mother, may well touch your heart as you think about the circle of life. This is a show that is sure to have legs down the road, with a wide appeal to choirmasters looking for something original for their singers to perform. Meanwhile, you can catch the Atlantic Theater Company's lovely production at the Linda Gross Theater.

I Became We is one of the best plays I’ve experienced this season–the writing hits all the notes I could ever ask to feel in a single hour. The form itself is so well executed, that I didn’t once need anything more than sixteen voices reverbera...

I Became We is one of the best plays I’ve experienced this season–the writing hits all the notes I could ever ask to feel in a single hour. The form itself is so well executed, that I didn’t once need anything more than sixteen voices reverberating the emotions of fleeting time and years–as a thirty-two-year-old single woman, I’ve been feeling this now more than ever. When is the right time to change, to ask for something new? Can I face my uncertainties? When is living for me no longer enough?