Review Round-up: Are the critics singing the praises of Choir Boy?

Choir Boy, a new play set in an all boys, all black, American prep school scores a
gospel refrain of the politics of minority and masculinity.

Directed by
Royal Court artistic director Dominic Cooke, it runs until 6 October.

Michael Coveney
Whatsonstage.com
★★★★

The most astonishing thing about Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s new play Choir
Boy…is the casting…Director Dominic Cooke has struck more gold for England at the end of our Olympic summer…the
glue is the music, ranging from school hymns and anthems to a more profound
investigation of spirituals and gospel. It’s all thrillingly well sung, fuelled
by the boys’ own internal antagonisms and the goading of a semi-retired old
white teacher (beautifully played by David Burke) …At first the play feels under-populated on Ultz‘s
wrap-around design of panelled walls, locker room tiles and cupboards, school
crests and Pharus’s bedroom. But the skilful, muscular writing…expands along
with the performances, and the actors hop among the audience to pick up a bass
line or rap out a riposte.

Dominic Maxwell
The Times
★★★

…The show is stretched, at two hours no interval, and McCraney starts on
more ideas than he resolves…But there is some acute and amusing stuff in here…The
grown-ups – Burke, and Gary McDonald as the smiling, authoritative Headmaster –
are terrific. As are the boys, whether it’s Eric Kofi Abrefa giving a measured
swagger to Bobby or Khali Best as Pharus’s sporty roommate AJ. But Dominic
Smith as Pharus has the star turn here…the more the play goes on, the more
Smith chimes with it, the more we see both the effort of staying refined…It’s a
show of fine constituent parts that don’t quite coalesce. But this is a smart,
memorable attempt at something we’ve not seen before.

Lyn Gardner
Guardian
★★★★★

History and secret histories, the things that free us and the things that
tie us to the past are all examined in this exhilarating, multi-layered new
play from Tarell Alvin McCraney…Threaded with searing gospel
songs, McCraney’s play examines the shifting nature of truths,
biblical and otherwise, and cleverly manipulates the hot-house setting to
consider wider issues of black American history, from the brutal days of
slavery to Obama’s cry of “Yes, we can!” Ultz’s design,
encompassing schoolhall, showers and dorms, creates the intimacy the play
demands, Dominic Cooke directs with delicacy and an iron grip, and the cast
make this play about hate and love genuinely sizzle.

Fiona Mountford
Evening Standard
★★★

…The script’s pacing and the characters’ motivation are often both oddly
off-kilter, even though McCraney captures perceptively the pressures of a
hothouse boarding school environment…Despite the bumps in the road of the
writing, Cooke directs stylishly and there’s lovely close-harmony singing
throughout (top marks to musical director Colin Vassell). Ultz’s omni-purpose
school set sweeps us cleverly through elements of changing rooms, dormitories
and great hall…The design is engagingly all-encompassing but like the play
itself offers no sense of these boys’ place in wider, Obama-led American
society. What they will do once they leave is anyone’s guess.

Aleks Sierz
The Stage

…This fascinating play gets an excellent production from Dominic Cooke in his final season as artistic director. Designer Ultz has turned the studio space into a school environment with the audience ranked like parents at a prize-giving. Of the young cast, several of whom make their debuts, newcomer Dominic Smith shines as Pharus and Eric Kofi Abrefa is a powerful Bobby. Similarly impressive are Khali Best (AJ), Aron Julius (David) and Kwayedza Kureya (Junior), while Gary McDonald and David Burke are convincing as headmaster Morrow and Pendleton. With music beautifully arranged by Colin Vassell, this is an emotionally engaging and thought-provoking drama.