Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o has just made her Broadway debut in "Eclipsed," a play which arrives on Broadway after a celebrated off Broadway run last year. Here with his review is contributing critic David Cote of Time Out New York.
In the move from the Public Theater to the John Golden on Broadway, Danai Gurira's "Eclipsed" has lost not-a-jot of intensity or shock. This hair-raising story of African women trying to survive the horrors of the 2003 Liberian Civil War is still a rousing call to action; but what action? That is what the drama is about.
Options are few and horrible for the women in "Eclipsed." They are so-called wives of the commanding officer of a rebel faction fighting President Charles Taylor.
The women cook for the C.O., and service him sexually, a grim duty they perform offstage with numbed efficiency. A newcomer to the group is a teen fugitive known as 'Girl.'
Lupita Nyong’o is utterly transfixing as this innocent bound for corruption. Girl is cared for and protected by Wife #1, played with maternal strength by Saycon Sengbloh.
Despite the oppressive situation, there is humor, the latter supplied by Pascale Armand as the selfish and hugely pregnant Wife #3. And Wife #2? She has become a battle-hardened soldier, embodied by the petite but fierce Zainab Jah, who looks like she could take on an army.
Jah's character tempts the young girl away from the domestic sphere, empowering her with guns and the will to kill. But with the appearance of an NGO peace worker with a secret agenda, played by Akosua Busia, there is a glimmer of hope for the women’s escape.
The drama is seeing what path Girl chooses. Liesl Tommy directs her sensational ensemble with an escalating sense of danger and urgency.
"Eclipsed" is the sort of play we should see every season, and more of, on-Broadway: tough-minded, topical, and above all, made by women of color.