8 / 10
Dad Don’t Read This is messy and raw and doesn’t really go anywhere, but the fierce energy of its voice and its sharply observed characters–and particularly those moments where the play’s casually realist surface cracks open to reveal a weirder sense of narrative time or a stunning, mystifying image–will keep it in my mind for a long time.
10 / 10
*CRITIC'S PICK* Smith has written about young people in extremis before: Her “Grief Camp” at Atlantic Theater Company dealt with bereaved children having a good time, often in spite of their own fluctuating will. This play, though, feels like an advance. Her naturalistic dramatic voice — a still-sticky adolescent mixture of wild feeling and zoned-out alienation — comes into better focus here, thanks to the loose, swaggering realism generated by the director, Chloe Claudel.
Eliya Smith’s Dad Don’t Read This, directed by Chloe Claudel, will present additional performances and a final extension. The show features performances by Drama Desk winner Amalia Yoo.
Dad Don't Read This, a new play by Eliya Smith is now playing Off-Broadway at St. Luke's Theatre. See what the critics are saying in BroadwayWorld's Review Roundup here.
Following the breakout success of her Off-Broadway debut Grief Camp, playwright Eliya Smith will bring audiences deeper into the lives of teenagers with the world premiere of Dad Don’t Read This.
