Review Roundup: ||: GIRLS :||: CHANCE :||: MUSIC Opens Off-Broadway

Reviews are in for ||: GIRLS :||: CHANCE :||: MUSIC :||, the world premiere musical by Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa Davis at Vineyard Theatre.

Directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon, the production follows four teenagers attending a summer music program in Berkeley, California. Critics are weighing in on the new work, which runs through June 21.

During an unforgettable summer at a girls’ music program in Berkeley, California, these four teenagers school each other in identity and intimacy, forging connections through passionate explorations of sound. As the world around them thrums with disaster, their relationships crack under the weight of the unexpected–and demand that they improvise new ways of being themselves.

||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| will play through June 21, 2026 at the Vineyard Theatre.

Laura Collins-Hughes, The New York Times: Eisa Davis’s “Girls Girls Chance Chance Music Music,” at the Vineyard Theater (the playwright renders the title with musical repeat symbols), is a play with live music. It is also a love letter to creativity and collaboration, to fleeting youthful friendships that become touchstone memories, and to artistic spaces that allow girls to thrive in one another’s company — at least when the kids themselves aren’t getting in the way of that.

Roma Torre, New York Stage Review: Anyone who’s spent time with high school girls will recognize the four characters in this work struggling to make sense of their lives. But as presented, ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| feels less of a fully realized play and more like a character study depicting cliquish teen girl behavior and it drags in spots. By the time Margot states: “It’ll be great when we’re done being teenagers and never have emotions again,” the message is all too clear. These are young women who have lots of growing up to do. If only there was more music to quicken the tempo.

Caroline Cao, New York Theatre Guide: The notes of coming of age are complex for four students at an all-girls summer music academy in earthquake-prone Berkeley, California. Directed with no frills by Pam MacKinnon at Vineyard Theatre, Eisa Davis’s play ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| is a stark, messy portrait of teen musicians figuring out their harmonies.

Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: Not that I wanted a longer show. At its best, ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :|| nails something essential and true about kids in all those youth arts programs for the gifted and talented. The skills are real, but sometimes raw and in need of training. The emotions are big, but often expressed awkwardly or immaturely. Whether by chance or predetermination, though, you want them all to succeed and find their place in the melody. And in the world.

Matthew Wexler, 1 Minute Critic: According to the script for ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||, 12 audience volunteers are to pick notes from a G-F# scale, which will then be used throughout the play in various improvised sections. If this happened at the performance I attended, I missed it completely. But even if I had chosen one of those notes myself, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Eisa Davis’s play about “coming of age under pressure” may leave much up to chance, but it lacks the payoff of untethered musical expression.

Average Rating: 64.0%