←Recommendations of I Go Somewhere Else

A truly moving exploration of motherhood that delves into the effects of the complex relationship we had to ours on our identity and the journey forward. Well done.

An exquisite play that examines family trauma, mother-daughter relationships, loneliness, mental health, and the intersection of those things with race and gender. Lanny/Langree/Tabitha's relationship with her Blackness and self image, and how that is inextricably tied with the self image of her mother is so potently explored here. The separation of Lanny into three parts (and how those parts interact) is a brilliant device to heighten the sense that, as we grow, we both try to leave behind who we were and wish for a peek into the unknowable future to confirm that we make it through.

This is one of the most powerful narratives that explores Black girls with not so warm and loving mothers. This play is a testament to a non-commercialized understanding of complex relationships between mother and daughter and the role colorism plays in natal relationships. My friend was able to address to real life issues with her mother after witnessing this play, which shows how it works even after curtains. I Go Somewhere Else is a revelation and testament to the times.

A visceral read. There's much to say of Craig-Galván's writing, images irradiating from the page, language resonating, economical, poetic; performance is seldom so clearly delineated within a script as it is here. Lanny's story of abuse begins rooted in ignominies of race, from her dialect, to the management of her natural hair, with all of it being enforced (and reinforced) by her mother. The play's thematic endeavor, to have an objective view of Reda, requires solemn, informed apprehension regarding numerous psychosocial issues, which Langree and Tabitha seek to achieve through revisiting, maybe even correcting, a journey of learned shame.

It’s taken me over a week to process this play. But all I can say is that it was one of the most powerful and transcendent pieces about mothers, daughters, and trauma, I’ve had the pleasure to see on-stage. To tell you any more about the story would do you a disservice. Just prepare for a flood of feels that will make you hug your child/parent close when you get home.

Our narrator, as a child, asks, "Aren't we supposed to love everybody? No matter what they've done to hurt us in the past?" When someone we love hurts us, we assume it is something we have done to deserve it. Even a blameless child thinks this. In this moving and insightful play, the playwright deftly lays out the story of a troubling mother-figure, leaving it squarely at our feet to understand her and to forgive her, as we strive to understand and forgive our own mothers. The way we hope our children may one day understand and forgive us.