"For me, it tries too hard. The central metaphor — that Black women are literally falling apart — is assiduously explored, but the issues that might give it heft are left, like Angela and Odessa, buried in the sand...Which is not to say that every play about Black women must be a tragic news bulletin. In some ways it’s a relief that when Angela and Odessa do rise from the sand, there’s some enjoyable interplay between them."
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"3/5 stars...An offbeat and intriguing play...One of the play’s most stirring strokes is Angela’s fascination with fulgurites, glass formations that can result when lightning strikes sand. Although they’re delicate and breakable, fulgurites vibrate with power. The same goes for Angela, Odessa, and Adah."
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"After she builds a clever allegory about Black women’s health, Simpson’s sure touch slackens. There’s a vivid first scene, and then the play almost immediately begins to lose its urgency...The director, Summer L. Williams, therefore has to lean heavily on her cast for the show’s electricity — and they deliver...The main thrill is Watts, though, who is superb, winking and laughing and so swaggeringly charismatic that you’d follow her anywhere."
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"The play builds on Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot' (and perhaps even Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's 'Pass Over'), finding a more compelling, less nihilistic, set of answers. At times the philosophical nature of the play can zoom out a bit and become somewhat generalized. But this broader conversation about waiting, living, surviving, and radical self-care — coming from three Black women who are tired, struggling, and falling apart -- still comes across as deeply specific and embodied. The play's one major weakness is its length."
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But even with a running time of just over ninety minutes, the action -- or, rather, the lack of it -- drags noticeably. Whether one views it as a trek without a destination or an exercise in venting, sandblasted ends up overstaying its welcome. The writing is often graceful, but its dramatic structure is notably wobbly, almost nonexistent; in fact, you could say this sometimes-pertinent play is built on a foundation of sand.
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"The world premiere of Charly Evon Simpson's 'sandblasted' shows an ambitious play that wants to be groundbreaking. Unfortunately, despite a game cast and a jaw-dropping set, the Vineyard Theatre and Women's Project Theater's 100-minute, intermission-less co-production quickly wears out its welcome and tests its audience's patience for an absurdist comedy that ultimately has very little to say."
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"3/5 stars...If a theatergoer enjoys this sort of poetical language, language that lights neither here nor there but seems to light everywhere and nowhere—then the all-small-letters 'sandblasted' could be just the thing. If, however, this kind of uninterrupted backing-and-forthing has the effect on a ticket buyer of, at best, mounting annoyance, 'sandblasted' won’t add up to a satisfying time...For longer than might be expected, it’s fun watching 'sandblasted.' For that, Simpson has director Summer L. Williams and the actors to thank."
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A woman’s arm falls off soon into playwright Charly Evon Simpson’s engrossing allegory, sandblasted. Ms. Simpson’s tone beautifully mixes the comic with the wistful, her dialogue is glorious, and her characters are appealing. Structured as 18 punchy short time-shifting scenes, with duologues, trialogues and monologues, the play builds to a stirring conclusion. Simpson quotes Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison and Samuel Beckett in stage notes, their aesthetic influence is evident. The setting is a sandy landscape, the time is “now. after. future.”
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