Rasheeda Speaking @ Pershing Square Signature Center

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Rasheeda SpeakingEvery once in a while I witness acting, writing, staging…and a damn great little kernel of an idea executed with perfect directing to make a wonderful theatre experience.

This is what I got with Joel Drake Johnson’s Rasheeda Speaking down at the fantastic new Pershing Square Signature Center.

Not that I had any doubt that the wonderful Dianne Wiest would not be spectacular (she was in a read on her character Ilene that I can’t really describe…why aren’t we seeing more of this woman, who is by far one of our best American actresses?!) or that Tonya Pinkins wouldn’t be all coiled-up perfect in a ‘is she or is she not’ kind of a turn. But it’s always best when great players are in great plays, directed by a subtle hand (first time director here, Sex In The City alum, Cynthia Nixon, truly gets out of the way and lets these actors breathe on this one room set for a 90-minute straight through performance.)

Darren Goldstein manages a commanding presence between all these heavy weight ladies and Patricia Conolly, shaky and at times as comical as she is slightly tragic, is well placed and delivers the biggest laugh of what is, for the most part, a rather funny play, with some very serious undertones.

Rasheeda Speaking is a wonder, the performances pitch perfect and Cynthia Nixon’s direction impeccable. This is a must-see play!

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