Review Roundup: DES MOINES Opens Off-Broadway!

DES MOINES, written by the late Denis Johnson and directed by Arin Arbus opened December 16th at Theatre For A New Audience. The production runs through January 1st.

In this mysterious work, chance events-including a plane crash, a rescued wedding ring, and a frightening diagnosis-bring five characters in its titular city together for a debauch of karaoke, liquor, and sex that becomes an unlikely communion. With its dark humor, Des Moines confronts death, mortality, and the stubborn pursuit of grace among those who barely believe in it. "What I write about," Johnson once told New York Magazine, "Is the dilemma of living in a fallen world, and asking why it is like this if there's supposed to be a God."

Des Moines' imperfect, haunted characters-familiar traits within Johnson's acclaimed body of work-are played by two-time Tony nominee Johanna Day (Sweat, Peter and Jerry, August: Osage County, Proof), Arliss Howard (Mank, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Full Metal Jacket), Hari Nef ("Daddy", Assassination Nation, Transparent; Upcoming: The Idol), Michael Shannon (TFANA: The Killer. Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Knives Out, Revolutionary Road) and Heather Alicia Simms (TFANA: Fairview, Richard III; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). The creative team includes Riccardo Hernández (Scenic Designer), Qween Jean (Costume Designer), Scott Zielinski (Lighting Designer), Mikaal Sulaiman (Sound Designer), and Byron Easley (Choreographer)

Let's see what the critics had to say...

Maya Phillips, New York Times: And yet the odd characters in “Des Moines,” which had its New York premiere on Friday night at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, can’t even use the depth chargers (as they call the drink) that they consume as an excuse for their peculiarities. The play, written by Denis Johnson and presented by Theater for a New Audience with Evenstar Films, drops a cast of characters into the depths and doesn’t try to reel them back in. Instead, we’re often the ones lost at sea.

Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: Denis Johnson’s play takes place entirely in a kitchen. But Des Moines, being given its New York premiere by Theatre for a New Audience, is as far from a kitchen sink drama as you can get. Sure, it starts out that way, with a middle-aged couple, Dan (Arliss Howard) and Marta (Johnna Day), sitting down for a snack and debating such issues as butter versus margarine while Dan eats some leftover microwaved spaghetti. But it isn’t long before this unsettling work from the late author of such acclaimed novels as Tree of Smoke and the short story collection Jesus’ Son turns into something far stranger. During the course of the evening all of the characters liberally consume the potent alcoholic drinks known as depth charges, and this play carries a depth charge of its own.

Average Rating: 70.0%