As I was watching a preview of Little Bear Ridge Road starring Laurie Metcalf this week, I struggled to relate to the pervasive loneliness and estrangement. Set in remote Idaho, this intimate, limited-run play follows an aunt and nephew reuniting in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic to settle the estate of his addict father. The emotional distance between them, and pretty much everyone around them, mirrors a larger portrait of rural America — a world marked by alienation, economic hardship, and the shadow of drug abuse and broken families.
That I saw it on the heels of The Other Americans, John Leguizamo’s play at The Public, and Mexodus, a hip-hop musical at the Minetta Lane Theatre, likely led to my revelation. In these two works, notably with Latino and Black lead characters, I watched as though the stage was an extension of my own living room. The Other Americans captures the complicated saga of a Colombian American family confronting mental illness, racism and the struggle for economic survival. Mexodus depicts the journey of enslaved African Americans seeking freedom in Mexico, a profound celebration of history, migration and resilience told through beatboxing and live looping. The creation of community to fill a void is a familiar story for many immigrants, and it comes alive in both pieces. The togetherness verges on suffocating, in marked contrast to Little Bear.
Loneliness has become a dominant trope for one side of America, often rural or white, steeped in narratives of very real struggles — like the opioid epidemic, economic decline or the appeal of MAGA politics. That’s not to say that these ills belong to whites alone — addiction and mental illness pervade my family too — but their prevalence in some works of theater these days make them feel like an exploration of whiteness without ever saying it out loud. (Many works, actually.) I fumble as I type these words because of the moment we are in — and how quickly we’ve succumbed to those same MAGA, anti-woke forces now making me think twice about saying a work of art feels very, well, white.
Little Bear’s loss and disconnection stands in stark contrast to diverse storytelling that grapples with boundaries and community, two sides of the same cultural coin. Seeing all these works, one after another, in such close proximity, made me wonder if the divide between a dwindling, fractured world and a chaotic, energetic America fuels our political polarization. Are some Americans so wounded by the erosion of their world that they see new Americans as a threat? Is the contrast something they knowingly wield to fuel fear and rage? Or is it just plain ignorance?
The good news is that I found some convergence of these worlds in a preview of Liberation this week. Please go see it, if only for one mind-blowing scene on the complicated relationship we women have with our bodies; you’ll focus intensely on what the characters are actually saying — while they are naked — and that’s a revolution all on its own. The flesh onstage pushes the envelope even further than the mid-show standing ovation received by a similar shtick in Real Women Have Curves and the nudity and love-making in the must-see Prince Faggot at Studio Seaview. (I just figured out why so many shows are making us put our phones in Yondr pouches now!)
In Liberation, when the protagonist and feminist organizer explains to her daughter why women’s advancement stalled, it echoes my yearning over America’s current divides: “The way you took so much for granted, let so much slide, and not just the political progress, but the community, the solidarity. I don’t know where that is now.”
We audience members are implicated in her damning, in how and what we choose to see. It’s disheartening to watch essential, underrepresented works like Real Women Have Curves or Ain’t No Mo’ close early before they find the reach they deserve. And I hope that Little Bear’s mirror on American society is viewed as indictment rather than redemption.
So catch the limited-run shows listed below while you can. If you’re wondering how I find the time to see so much theater, let me share two hacks, one financial and one mental health-related. First, here’s a guide we wrote to see Broadway on the cheap; it’s not a coincidence that two of the works I feature here were seen in previews. And finally, as the Type A daughter of immigrants running a portfolio of enterprises, I’ve found theater the only break and boundary that forces me to turn off my phone — but allows my mind to still keep racing, musing and working.
Mexodus
Minetta Lane Theatre (Presented by Audible Theater)
18 Minetta Lane, New York, NY 10012
mexodusmusical.com
Playing through Nov. 1
This hip-hop musical highlights the southern route of the Underground Railroad, blending beatboxing and live-looping to tell a little-known piece of American history. Stars Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, and their chemistry is incredible.
The Other Americans
The Public Theater (Anspacher Theater)
425 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10003
publictheater.org/theotheramericans
Playing through Nov. 23
Support Leguizamo’s first full-length playwriting effort. The Public Theatre kindly gave Epicenter a discount code for this show exploring the dynamics of a Colombian family who move from Jackson Heights to Forest Hills. Send us a note at hello@epicenter-nyc.com to unlock it.
Prince Faggot
Studio Seaview
305 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036
princefaggot.com
Playing through Nov. 30
Prince Faggot features a queer and gender-redefining ensemble reimagining and questioning the British monarchy. Directed by the incredible Shayok Misha Chowdhury, whose work Epicenter has raved about (here and in a podcast here), the production upends themes of identity, power and inheritance.
Liberation
James Earl Jones Theatre
138 West 48th St., New York, NY 10036
liberationbway.com
Playing through late December 2025
A feminist starts a “women’s lib” group in a basement gym in the 1970s as part of so-called second wave feminism. Decades later, her Gen X daughter interrogates where the movement went wrong.
Little Bear Ridge Road
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th St., New York, NY 10036
https://littlebearridgeroad.com/
Playing through Feb. 15
Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock star in Samuel D. Hunter’s play about an estranged family in rural Idaho thrust together in the pandemic and forced to emotionally find their way back to each other, too.
