Review Roundup: What Did Critics Think of TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS at Old Globe?
TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS opened at Old Globe in San Diego, California on February 9 and is running through March 17, 2019.
Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things follows the relationships between an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar and the many real-life readers who pour out their hearts to her. Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) adapts Strayed's book into an enrapturing and uplifting play that surges with emotion and is called by Variety "a theatrical hug in turbulent times." Tiny Beautiful Things is about reaching when you're stuck, recovering when you're broken, and finding the courage to ask the questions that are hardest to answer. Tissues recommended. Contains strong language and adult content.
For tickets and more information, please visit https://www.theoldglobe.org/press-room/2018-2019-season/tiny-beautiful-things/
Let's see what the critics had to say!
E.H. Reiter, BroadwayWorld: Standout moments include Roque talking about parental rejection of who they are and how to deal with their parents request to be welcomed back into their life and Sowunmi as a distraught mother trying to find a way to recover from a tragedy. Powell brought the audience to tears as grieving father with a powerfully moving letter asking how to keep going after the loss of a child.
Welton Jones, San Diego Story: Personally, I find her answers of little relevance or, sadly, novelty. As eloquent as Sugar is, her sharing of personal stories only adds to the appalling realization not of how beastly and cruel people have become but instead how hard we've labored to obscure that reality in the past.
Charles Mcnulty, Los Angels Times: The production, directed by James Vásquez, trusts in the drama of ordinary human struggle. Some of the letters are wacky, a good many are ribald, a few are profoundly sad. Midway through the 85-minute production, it wasn't clear whether the letters would simply accumulate or dramatically build. But the gravity is ratcheted up, and the intensity with which Alladin's Sugar both listens and responds is deeply affecting.
Milo Shapiro, Stageandcinema.com: Wilson Chin's simple stage serves as Strayed's home office as she digs deep to figure out which aspect of her own experiences - from her parents to past relationships to deep secrets - will best serve the person's need; as a theater piece, the effect is moving and memorable. Overall, the production is gripping from onset to conclusion as we are reminded of just how universal is the struggle to hold it together - including a reviewer.
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