When writer Suzanne Alexander (Audra McDonald) returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker, in which she explores the violence in her works, a dark mystery unravels. Adrienne Kennedy's Ohio State Murders is an intriguing and unusual suspense play, as well as a social pertinent look at the destructiveness of racism in our society.
Kenny Leon’s production focuses a bit too much on memory and not enough on the imagined present, to my mind. The tension that Kennedy built into the piece would be more palpable if, for a second, we believe that Hampshire will be good for Suzanne, but the conclusions here always appear foregone. If Pinkham softened his character some in the early stages of the piece, that would help bring about the twisting agony of disappointed expectations. But McDonald, clearly laboring of love here, is just wonderful in this part. On Beowulf Borit’s fractured, dislocated set, she shares her final bow with an image of Kennedy, a prescient writer, perhaps born too soon in America but still having flourished, notwithstanding all that her now regretful university put in her way.
I spent a restless, almost sleepless night after seeing the play, haunted by its peculiar, unsettling power. Encountering a great work of art can be as disorienting as it is rewarding. “Ohio State Murders” leaves a lasting imprint—I picture a bloody handprint—on what for lack of a better term I’ll call the soul.
2007 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play | Audra McDonald |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Play | Allen Lee Hughes |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Ohio State Murders |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design of a Play | Beowulf Boritt |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Sound Design of a Play | Justin Ellington |
2023 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Ohio State Murders |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Lead Performer in a Broadway Play | Audra McDonald |
2023 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Ohio State Murders |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Audra McDonald |
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