REVIEWS: HOLY DAY (dir. Barbara Rubin & Heather Benton)
“The characters are vividly etched, surely meant to drive home what it took to survive in that time and place — what cruelties they endured, what cruelties they inflicted.”
“I can’t remember the last time I saw such a hateful play given such an impressive production. The eight-member cast is intense and committed, Marisa Kaugar’s set design is simple but effective; Caroline Eng’s sound design adds tension and suspense.”
- NEW YORK THEATER (click for full review)
“Barbara Rubin and Heather Benton direct an incredibly talented ensemble, each of whom gives a richly layered and nuanced performance, even as some of the characters are wholly irredeemable.”
“The New Natives Theatre Company brings playwright Andrew Bovell’s powerful Holy Day to the New Ohio Theatre in a production that moves, horrifies, and forces us to confront the racist and bloody history of this and other colonized nations that have a history of mistreating its indigenous.”
- ROUND THE WORLD STAGE (click for full review)
“They are emblematic of a unanimously strong cast that alternately conjure and resist the darkness of the text in order to build the wider metaphor of these largely unremarkable people as a microcosm of society on the cusp of forming an uneasy nation.”
“Stark shadows and underscored proclamations lend a heart of darkness feel to proceedings. Even when viewed as a Sunday matinee, it has a chillingly biblical tone. It is mysterious, and leaves a lingering shiver with the viewer for hours after curtain down. See it while you can, it’s only at the New Ohio for a couple of weeks”.
- NEW YORK PHOENIX NEWS (click for full review)
“These challenging and complex characters develop through bizarre and frightening story telling.”
“This strange sort of authenticity found far from Australia was eerily familiar and reassuring to me as an Australian abroad. I was overwhelmed with nostalgia and homesickness as I watched convicts’ hike across the outback, and I could smell the country air as different characters bathed in a river. The combination of sound, colour, and staging brought Australia to life in downtown New York City.”
“This violently truthful show holds no bars when dealing with the challenges that its characters face. The tension between the white European settlers and the indigenous Australian population is a central point of the show, as one character powerfully stated: “it’s a war, them or us and they know how to fight it.”