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The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess

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Recommendations

  • Nick Malakhow:
    1 Mar. 2022
    “ A sharp, incisive play that does an excellent job of rejecting easy answers and not taking sides as it discusses a fatal flaw (well, several) in discussions of race in America within "well meaning liberal" environments. The intersectional nuances connected to gender, sexuality, and generation, and how they interact with race deepens what already would've been a rich conversation. Also, I'm amazed by how Burgess is able to so successfully conjure a rich external world and socio-cultural context with only two characters onstage without it feeling overly "telling" or expository. Hope this continues to be programmed far and wide! ”
  • Emma Goldman-Sherman:
    1 May. 2021
    “ Wow! This is a great play that is so intense and intensely relevant. I got to see it produced by Interact online, and it doesn't let you go. The tension over the course of two acts is relentless. A wonderful exploration of the history of our culture and how white amerika would erase Black experience and does every day and still doesn't get it even when it's called out. A metaphor and a very specific response to 450 years + of oppression and racism and our refusal to see it and bear witness. A Must See! ”
  • Cary Simowitz:
    31 May. 2020
    “ The first ten pages of this play--the sample's offering--are incredibly compelling. I hope I have the opportunity to read or see this play in its entirety one day! ”
  • Chet Hertz:
    31 May. 2020
    “ Eleanor Burgess's "The Niceties" should be required reading and viewing -- toward a sane and informed discussion of race and inequalities in America. In 2020 more than ever, I wish this play could be widely read and seen to initiate that exchange. ”
  • Christopher Beaman:
    17 Dec. 2019
    “ Very good play. Does what a good story should do, make you question. ”
  • Franky D. Gonzalez:
    30 Aug. 2019
    “ It's the play that goes there. It's a microcosm of our society and the conversations we're trying to have politely, and dares to get at the heart of the question of America's future. One room, two women, and explosive lines that shifts power and control of the dialogue at the turn of a phrase. It calls out everything from race, ageism, the definition of feminism across age, the notion of acceptable academia, and the list goes on. The play is no laundry list, though. It's a searing drama with the highest stakes. Highly recommended. ”
  • Sam Collier:
    5 Jul. 2019
    “ Was lucky enough to see a production of The Niceties at Interlochen Center for the Arts, and found it brilliant, truthful, and urgent. This is the kind of play that should be produced all over the country, the kind of play that reflects back to us our most damning contradictions and hypocrisies, and then charts a course forward. I can't wait to read and see more of Burgess's work. ”
  • Timothy Bishop:
    31 Aug. 2017
    “ Saw a staged reading at Shotgun Theatre. It was a brilliant script that did what a great play does, asked deep questions without mandating only one answer to them, challenged my intellect to think beyond the obvious, engaged my emotions by getting me to care about the characters, and inspired my empathy by getting me to walk a mile in someone different's shoes, and see the world through their eyes. ”
  • RP McLaughlin:
    17 Jul. 2017
    “ I had the great pleasure of seeing this at CATF. What a smart, compassionate, biting, honest play with its finger on the pulse of the seemingly intractable intersection of race, history, and power in America. ”
  • Adam Szymkowicz:
    17 May. 2017
    “ A terrifying terrific play. Highly recommend. ”