Lileana Blain-Cruz will direct The Blood Quilt by Katori Hall. Gathering at their childhood island home off the coast of Georgia, four disconnected sisters meet to create a family quilt to honor their recently deceased mother. When their reunion turns into a reading of their mother’s will, everyone must grapple with a troubling inheritance. Stitched with history, ritual, laughter and tears, will their “blood quilt” bind the family together or tear them apart forever? The Blood Quilt had its premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.
As The Blood Quilt lumbers toward its finish, Hall keeps loading it up with revelations, each one more ostensibly shocking than the last. Except that, inside the formulaic container she’s built, none of them is really a shock at all. The inevitable storm blows in, but by that point, its blows and buffets are too artificial to rattle us. There is, however, an element to the production that transcends that feeling of schematic craftsmanship: the quilts themselves.
Strangely, Hall’s play lacks focus, as if it’s juggling too many ideas to go into depth on any one. There are themes of familial discord, buried secrets, deep resentment, historical ownership, selling out, gentrification, lack of parental care, and the tension between tradition and modernity. All these subjects are interesting, but the characters feel like they’re dancing on the surface.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
LCT Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
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