Review Roundup: THE HALF-GOD OF RAINFALL Opens at NYTW

New York Theatre Workshop is now presenting The Half-God of Rainfall, a co-production with American Repertory Theater by Hay Festival Medal for Poetry winner Inua Ellams (Barber Shop Chronicles), directed by Obie Award winner and NYTW Usual Suspect Taibi Magar (Help), with movement direction by Orlando Pabotoy (Henry VI, Part 1, 2, 3).

The cast of The Half-God of Rainfall includes Jason Bowen (The Play That Goes Wrong) as Sàngó, Mister Fitzgerald (On Sugarland) as Demi, Patrice Johnson Chevannes (In Old Age) as Osún, Michael Laurence (Coal Country) as Zeus, Lizan Mitchell (On Sugarland) as Elegba, Jennifer Mogbock (Merry Wives) as Modúpé and Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof) as Hera.
 
When Demi, the half Nigerian-mortal, half Greek-god, is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks. And the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land wake up. 

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

Jackson McHenry, Vulture: Ellams’s world bursts with ideas about myth and sport, and his play can barely wrangle all of the lyricism and lore into compelling stage action. The play takes place everywhere from the London Olympics to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, with jokes about particular demigods of sport and grand philosophizing. The seven actors in Half-God split up the many characters, introducing themselves and their roles at the top of the play and stepping between deities and mortals with the help of jerseys, headgear, and prop weaponry (Zeus has a thunderbolt; his Orisha thunder-god counterpart, Sango, has an ax). 

Amelia Merrill, New York Theatre Guide: Blending Nigerian and Greek mythologies, Inua Ellams’s The Half-God of Rainfall sees multiple gods step forward from a seven-person ensemble. It is rare that the trust and communication among an ensemble shines through in their work, but the cast of Half-God seems to meld and move together, even when their characters are in conflict. Much of this charismatic connection comes from movement director Orlando Pabotoy’s choreography, which turns Ellams’s epic poem into dance theatre. Taibi Magar directs the thoughtful, meticulous New York Theatre Workshop and American Repertory Theater co-production.
 
Photo Credit: Joan Marcus