Fairview Reviews

Los Angeles Times- Somewhat Recommended

"...I'm grateful that Rogue Machine has brought 'Fairview' to Los Angeles. But I'm not sure that I would have thought as highly of the play had this been my first experience of it.""

Stage and Cinema- Highly Recommended

"...Writing honestly about Fairview without ruining it is close to a contradiction in terms. The play runs on surprise, on jolts timed so precisely that a critic who telegraphs them is doing active harm. Skip the other reviews. Most of them spoil it, and this play earns its ambush. What I can do is say what kind of thing it is and what it does to a room, and leave the machinery for you to encounter on your own. It won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The committee knew exactly what it was honoring: the highest prize in American playwriting going to a work that holds the American theatergoer up to the light."

Stage Scene LA- Recommended

"...A bit of post-performance googling clarified playwright Drury's intentions in ways I hadn't understood while watching Fairview, including a concept I had not heard of before seeing her play, the 'White Gaze' that forces Black people to navigate between their real selves and how they are perceived by White people. It also became clear to me how differently Black and White audience members are likely to react to what they see and hear on stage, and I must confess that many though not all my reactions fell along those racial lines."

Hollywood Progressive- Highly Recommended

"...But if you are an adventurous theatergoer who enjoys having your eyebrows (and perhaps blood pressure) raised and being challenged and forced out of your comfort zone, and especially if you’re interested in excoriating critiques of racial caricatures and of racism itself, then your trip to the Matrix Theatre is likely to be well worth your time and money."

Stage Raw- Recommended

"...Countering that negative, though, is the play's discerning satire, performed by a surefooted ensemble with comic flair, with standout performances from Ashanti as the self-loving Jasmine and daniels as a bewildered teen in an unjust, upside down world, in the end doing her best to carve sense from it all."

Larchmont Buzz- Somewhat Recommended

"...Touted as 'an intimate, thought-provoking conversation about identity, representation, and community, daring to challenge perceptions and redefine what it means to watch and to truly see each other,' Fairview instead feels tedious and repetitive. Yes, it makes points about the way Blacks are perceived in American culture, and 'real life.' Yes, it sends up the White Gaze. All of this is to be applauded. My objection is that the play already feels, just seven years after its premiere, dated."

Nerds Of Color- Somewhat Recommended

"...Fairview does come with some recommendations to check out but solely for the cast and for the first fantastic part of the show."

Broadway World- Highly Recommended

"...The play is the L.A. premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s FAIRVIEW, presented by Rogue Machine Theatre at the Matrix. Like so many Rogue Machine’s productions, FAIRVIEW – the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner - boasts a more than solid cast, a bold directorial vision and the chutzpah to get in the face of its audience and dare them to blink, to rise and certainly to keep from squirming."