Familiar - Bring It Home

Please note this performance of Familiar occurred during the show's previews, and changes to the show may be made ahead of its official opening night.

Fun Fact: Playwright Danai Gurira is well known for her zombie-slaying role as Michonne on The Walking Dead.

Target Audience: This play is fun and tender and will be enjoyed by a vast demographic. Anyone who has encountered a different nationality will relate to the cultural miscommunications and the universal truth of family.

Feel-o-meter: I shed a tear for my home country and hoped that the world would be more accepting of each other, be it race or religion.

Stand out actor: Myra Lucretia Taylor (Mai Carol) plays this role with such authenticity I kept checking her bio to ensure she wasn't Zimbabwean, and Joe Tippett (Brad) brought charm and likeability to his role as the all American jock.

Verdict: Danai Gurira has captured what the African spirit looks like when caught in the claws of the American Eagle. I hope she continues to soar.

Familiar is an exciting new play written by Zimbabwean-American actress and playwright, Danai Gurira. Her previous work includes The Continuum, a play about two women in two continents dealing with AIDS, which she co-created and performed with Nikkole Salter for her NYU graduate thesis, thereafter Gurira developed the brave and agonizing Eclipsed which is currently running on Broadway, starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, and The Convert, a historical drama about religion and colonialism. Each play has toured the country and The Continuum has toured the world. Based on her success Playwrights Horizons offered a commission for Familiar, it is her first play set in America.

As we look into the home of this Zimbabwean-American family one can understand why Gurira describes herself as a cultural schizophrenic. Familiar is her love story to "My People, My People". What a privilege to be a fly on the wall of the Chinyamwira household set in Minneapolis, Minnesota! Fleeing the uprising and turbulence in Zimbabwe, Donald (played by Harold Surratt) and Marvelous (Tamara Tunie) have made a life for themselves and their two daughters, Tendi (Roslyn Ruff) and Nyasha (Ito Aghayere), in the United States. Contrary to the usual immigrant stereotype, Marvelous and Donald are not dealing with economic struggle, lack of education or infiltration, in fact they have both blended into this world so well that it is only by their accents we can tell they are foreign. Their house looks like a page from a Pottery Barn catalogue so much so that it feels like a house rather than a home, a smart choice by set designer Clint Ramos as we understand it is merely part of the facade that Marvelous works so tirelessly to keep up. Familiar is a moving and heartfelt story that explores the many nuances of life in America as an immigrant, spirituality, culture, and the universal dynamics of a family.

The play centers around the eldest daughter Tendi's wedding, and highlights the challenges for an interracial intercultural couple getting married. Her Caucasian husband (Joby Earle) insists they incorporate a few Zimbabwean traditions to ensure a blessing from the ancestors, orchestrated by the eccentric aunt Mai Carol (Myra Lucretia Taylor). Marvelous insists they smother all rituals and traditions attached to their heritage while her youngest daughter Nyasha challenges the way in which they were brought up, isolated from their culture and their native tongue.

As comical differences are displayed between the Chinyamwira family, the groom and his all America brother Brad (Joe Tippett) Gurira reminds us what may appear normal to one family and culture is totally bazaar to another. As it all comes undone we are faced with the question of what defines home? We see the guilt Donald feels for abandoning ship on his homeland and Mai Carol shares her anguish about the younger generation diluting their cultural traditions.

The pace adjusts quite drastically feeling fuelled by slapstick and one liners in the first act and then a tear jerking melodramatic twist to the finish. It would appear that even the script is rebellious to traditional structures and norms, but after all what is a more fitting voice to tell the story of an African American family than that of a woman who has lived and breathed this tale herself!

Gurira has not only highlighted the topical conversation of immigrants in America but the bigger question of how we all choose to define ourselves. The next generation may look past race and ethnicity but it is our responsibility to hold onto the cultural rituals, traditions and stories that define who we are. Gurira shows such love and respect for America and Africa in this play and pokes fun at both cultures. Good thing I had tissues in my bag as this play goes from laugh out loud moments to some teary truths. This is a beautiful story which teaches us to accept ourselves - and each other.

Reviewed by Nicola Quinn

Saturday February 13th, 2016
Playwrights Horizons, New York City
Find me on Twitter: @newyorktheatre

View our show pages for more information about Familiar, Playwrights Horizons Theater.