Hit the Wall opening February 19 at Barrow Street Theater

[jon5202]

"Hit the Wall" a drama about the Stonewall riots in NYC in 1969 is opening Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre on February 19. A huge critical and audience hit in Chicago last season this new play by Ike Holter hopes to follow in the footsteps of the previous hit Chicago revival production of "Our Town" directed by David Cromer which ran for 1 1/2 years at the Barrow Street.

Playbill article:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/173892-Acclaimed-Chicago-Drama-Hit-the-Wall-About-Dawn-of-Stonewall-Riots-Sets-Off-Broadway-Dates-Cast-Announced

Some Chicago reviews:

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/review.php?playID=5278

[luvtheEmcee]

I saw it in Chicago, and I enjoyed it (parts more than others), but I didn't think it was brilliant. I was actually surprised to hear it was transferring. I'll be curious to hear how it's received in NYC.

[jon5202]

Hit the Wall regarding the Stonewall riots finally hits NYC. See above for review links and other info.

http://www.barrowstreettheatre.com/index.asp

[iWannaBEaSedaris]

I heard the script has been beefed up since Chicago and that the staging is completely different. Anyone else heard any news about it? I loved Tribes, that theatre space is kind of amazing.

[iWannaBEaSedaris]

Has anyone seen this show yet?
I was planning to go next week, but wanted to know what to expect.
Why does the website says it isn't recommended for children under 14?
Thanks guys.

[luvtheEmcee]

Probably because of the language and the violence. I am sure there are kids who can handle it just fine but 14 seems to be an oft-picked number for those sorts of warnings.

[Matt Rogers]

I have been told by a friend who saw it that this is actually in pretty rough shape right now but that there is a lot to like and that it will hopefully be tightened and focused during previews. I want to go, but I'm waiting a week or so.

[After Eight]

One of the things that has been crushingly absent from today's theater is theatricality. It seems that today's coddled, lauded "teacher's pet" playwrights take a singularly perverse pleasure in boring/exasperating audiences into a frustrated stupor. So we saps have to listen to endless prattle about grilling hotdogs or the origin of the word Neapolitan. Presumably, the creators of such fare are having a merry chuckle at our expense.

So when a play comes along that is theatrically ALIVE from start to finish, we have to bow down in gratitude to everyone involved in said production. That is the case with Hit the Wall. It's highly theatrical. It's also a good play.

Two hippies with bongos and guitar set the time and place for the show, as they play in Sheridan Square prefacing the arrival of the assorted personae who will be participants in the Stonewall riots. Each character has a story to tell, and as they arrive and interact with one another, they all come alive and hold our attention. The timeline moves swiftly, with imaginative staging and lighting, apt costumes, and terrific acting by the entire ensemble. The writing is crisp and bracing, with some very impressive verbal riffs.

It runs about 90 minutes, no intermission, and my only cavil is that in that span of time, the author wasn't sufficiently able to delve into or convey the historical and social importance and ramifications of this event.

[WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel]

I didn't have much interest in seeing this, but you just sold a ticket After Eight.

[uncageg]

This has been high on my list to see. Wanted to go tonight but decided I needed to just relax this evening. Maybe next week.

[Matt Rogers]

AfterEight, great review, and with your comments re "coddled lauded playwrights" boring us into oblivion, I'm with you. I think I'll get a ticket to this one.

[stevenycguy]

[April Saul]

After Eight, I just read your review and now I, too, am going...tomorrow in fact! And I totally agree with you about "coddled playwrights" as per my post about The Flick. I betcha I agree with you on this one, too

[April Saul]

Yup, agree with AfterEight! I saw Hit the Wall today and it moved me to tears. The older gay couple in front of me told me that the playwright had it exactly right in terms of the Village circa 1969 and they loved it as well. Definitely worthwhile...and better than some of the stuff that more established playwrights have right now on off-Broadway...

[stevenycguy]

Also would highly recommend this show. Entertaining and moving take on the Stonewall Rebellion with a large cast and fun costumes. Each member has a moment to speak about the difficulties in his/her own life at the time. The 90 minutes fly by.

[goldenboy]

I saw it. It is nicely done but it's been done before. Doric Wilson's Street Theatre is basically the same story. So is Judy Garland at the Stonewall Inn. While I found this production nicely staged and acted, I had a strong sense of DejaVu from the other productions.

If you haven't seen Street Theatre or Judy Garland at the Stonewall Inn or any other Stonewall play, I would recommend this. If you have seen another Stonewall play, than I would skip this.

[Sauja]

I went into this with high hopes, but I was let down. The writing is thin, the characters are underdeveloped, and if you know anything about Stonewall (and I mean ANYthing), the production doesn't seem to have much new to share.

The show has its heart in the right place, but even at a slim 90 minutes, it grew tedious.

There are moments where it seems poised to go deeper--one character desperate to get reporters to the scene to prove she made a difference, another whose sex drive overpowers his ability to care about what has happened...but they're gossamer moments in an otherwise shallow, obvious presentation.

A disappointment.

[welcometothetheater]

Has anyone else seen this lately? Will it be a hit or sell-out, do you think? I'd like to wait until Tuesday when I'm in the city to buy tickets, but I'm afraid the performances next week might sell out with a great review.

[jbm2]

Thinking of seeing it tomorrow- worth it?

The web site says there is nudity- what kind and how much?

[After Eight]

I thought it was worth seeing. Others here did not.

The only nudity I recall was an actor running naked across the stage, his character being on a drug-induced high.

[meyerd584]

Saw last night.

Dull until they enter Stonewall.
From then on, we enter a constant loud and visual rave and I loved every minute of it.
Some good performances and some terrible.
The writing is thin and at times, preachy.

Happy I had a comp.

[Rainbowhigh23]

I thought Gregory Haney from Bring It On was wonderful. My thoughts on the show echo Meyerd584 a lot. I loved the power that the loud music and rave lighting gave the production; the smell of the herbal cigarettes got me a little happy The staging puts you right into the middle of the melee; at times I wanted to stop the cop from the hurting the lesbian and the drag queen, but you can't mess with the play!

Upon entering the usher said there would be smoke effects and nudity, to which the man in front of me replied, "Well, I hope the smoke doesn't affect any of the nude scenes!"

[srg129]

Boy this one was a doozy. Talk about affected playwrighting at its worst.

Every one of the characters in this show is a cliched stereotype. The writing in this show bores you into a stupor with frustrating dialog that prattles on like the artificial speech you can only hear on Rupaul's Drag Race. If you enjoy that kind of dreck then you will probably enjoy this show and think it is theatrical or ground breaking.

If this isn't the definition of a coddled self-absorbed playwright then I don't know what is. Every single character is a stereotype. There is no reality about this show or the experience that occured at Stonewall on that night.

[iWannaBEaSedaris]

Interesting take srg129... I finally saw the show and was really floored... Just goes to show how drastically opinions can vary and that's kind of the beauty of theatre!

I felt like the use of stereotype/archetype within the show was rather inspired and intentional. The play seemed to be challenging the idea that there is some unified version of what happened the first night of the riots, and that the specifics of what happened might not even be important... the play isn't interested in reality, it's a heightened version of memories of the night... Emotionally charged and hot memories that collide into each other and into the audiences perception of the world of 1969 gays.

I really enjoyed the slam poetry aspect to much of the dialogue, and found it to be a refreshing respite from the malaise of kitchen sink 'real life' dramas in which we watch rich white people complain about the horrible consequences of their poor choices for 90 minutes to 2 hours....

Our opinions on the show varied wildly, but at least it's a provoking enough show to have an opinion about.

[NewYorkPulse24]

Im really excited to see this!
I know its been on studentrush alot lately
has anyone else gone?

[ClydeBarrow]

I saw this and can't say that I liked it. I'm not sure what the play is trying to say about the events. There really isn't much meat to the play other than a lot of stereotypes traipsed out one at a time to each have their moment. All of the straight characters in the show are vilified which I didn't really agree with. I'm not claiming that they should be portrayed as saints but it seemed laughable to me.

I would say that the staging was nice although I doubt ever side has a good view. The impact of the raid on Stonewall is a little meh since there is only one (very sadistic poorly drawn) cop. The brutality of the violence seemed in place more to shock the audience into a state rather than getting to that point with real emotion. And while I'm a fan of on-stage nudity I think sometimes it can be used as a crutch to get the audience back into a show that's kind of dragging.

The theatre was definitely not crowded and I wouldn't say that the audience who was there really enjoyed it.