This is definitely an early career work by an artist who was still finding his voice. There are issues in the writing--abrupt tonal shifts, occasionally tin-eared dialogue--that were largely tightened up in later Wilson works. And even some of the central characters (like Youngblood) feel underdeveloped. That said, there is a lot to enjoy and admire here, and I'm glad this is on Broadway in a terrific production from Ruben Santiago-Hudson. For my money, Brandon J. Dirden is the best interpreter of this repertory around, so I was glad to see him turn in a smoldering performance in the central role. He and John Douglas Thompson, as his father, are absolutely riveting in the final scene of Act 1, which echoes the father-son dynamic Wilson would come to explore in Fences. The supporting cast is largely strong as well; in particular, Michael Potts is a delight as the busybody Turnbo. I wasn't taken with Carra Patterson's Rena, but that is largely because the character is flat (a recurring problem throughout Wilson's oeuvre--a rather hollow understanding of, or interest in, the female experience). Despite my reservations, this is definitely a production to see.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
