East New York, Brooklyn. Nina’s estranged father Kenyatta, a former Black revolutionary and political prisoner, reappears to obtain a coveted piece of her late Mother's legacy. While Kenyatta had visions of changing the world, his daughter became everything he feared. Now he’s at her mercy for his own redemption. This is a story about love, political action, and one woman’s journey from a brutal existence to her own liberation.
As we have all learned, the past inevitably bumps up against the present. Sometimes it’s a headache, sometimes it’s an opportunity, and sometimes it’s a bit of both. Such is the case of the long-overdue reunion between Kenyatta (the riveting Russell Hornsby), a former Black revolutionary, and his estranged daughter Nina (the magnificent, heartbreaking Moses Ingram), a small-time hustler, in Dominique Morriseau’s bracing 2013 drama “Sunset Baby,” now being given a superb revival at the Signature Theatre Company under Steve H. Broadnax III’s sure-handed direction.
Morisseau is one of those rare playwrights who never lets an audience down. She doesn’t mar her record here. Listening to Kenyatta’s free-association outpouring as it introduces a character in barely contained quiet desperation, I was hooked — and stayed that way, or even more so, for the rest of the 100 intermissionless Sunset Baby minutes.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Signature Theatre Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | The Lortels | Outstanding Revival | Sunset Baby |
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