"Inseparable as real-world calamity has become from the realm of art, Dickerson-Despenza’s “Cullud Wattah” is especially suited to a moment of environmental unrest. After the play comes to an abrupt end, the cast stands in silence before leaving the stage. They don’t return for a bow, as if this had not been a performance but a call to account."
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"4/5 stars! Transcends its issue-play roots. Dickerson-Despenza and director Jones personalize Flint's public-health crisis with poetry and feeling; familiar ethical debates and secret confessions seem fresh thanks to lived-in performances, exhilarating language and stunning aesthetics."
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"5 stars! Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s new play, Cullud Wattah, is a gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, masterwork of a production and solidifies her influence in American theatre."
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"It is, in short, a very ambitious work in story and style. Some of those ambitions are better realized than others: The characters, for one thing don't always escape the feeling of being mere mouthpieces for the playwright's themes rather than being fully realized people. Even at its shaggiest, though, there is a generosity of spirit to Dickerson-Dispenza's writing that is powerful enough to transcend its shortcomings."
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If Cullud Wattah suffers from certain structural weaknesses, including a slightly pokey first act, any playwright who can write such unbridled scenes, sparing none of her characters, is someone to watch. Her work is filled with a controlled indignation that commands one's attention.
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"5 stars! Though having to forgo their on-stage applause, Mitchell, Dickinson, Patterson, Pilgrim, and Walker are going to receive it here. There is no first among equals, which may owe their ensemble playing to being on so high a level that there’s no possibility of rising higher. The raised standard is also due to director Candis C. Jones, who thoroughly understands the script’s magnitude and sees to its full realization."
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All of us are probably aware of the problems of polluted water in Flint, Michigan, owing to civic neglect. However, it might shock you to know that it is still going on. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winning play Cullud Wattah takes on this crisis through the prism of one family of three generations of Black women living in the same house. The material is powerful and explosive.
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"Playwright, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, has created a family of five kick-ass women whom you will fall in love with. You will laugh with them and love with them. This tremendous ensemble will have you wanting to join them for a meal, for a talk, a dance. And when they argue, and they will, you will not take a side because Dickerson-Despenza has weighed the arguments so that we understand and feel both sides...At the end of this beautiful powerful production, in the final moments, the actors leave an imprint that is stunning. This is a night out at the theater to remember for years to come."
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