LUCE – Location, Tickets, Reviews
LUCE, a play, is part of Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT3 program that produces “new artists for new audiences.”
In the play, a teacher finds illegal fireworks in the locker of a charming, high achieving student. This leads to an uncomfortable parent-teacher conference and lots of hand-wringing. It does not lead to an honest conversation with the student in question. Rather ambiguity is the name of the game in this production: Just the right amount if you believe the New York Daily News (“[T]he strength of this debut play by JC Lee at LCT3 — Lincoln Center’s arm for young writers — is ambiguity”), or too much in the case of the New York Post (“[I]t strains for ambiguity to the point of becoming uninvolving”), or not enough according to TheaterMania (“[I]t’s not as thought-provoking as it would have been had Lee left his audience with more ambivalence.”).
LUCE tackles several hot button issues including violence in schools, a student’s right to privacy, and transracial and transcultural adoption. The student is black, adopted from a war-torn country in Africa by white U.S. parents. Despite an intriguing premise and strong performances, this play leaves the audience wanting for a plot not based on passive-aggressive miscommunication and a character with the strength and leadership to correct this wayward group’s course of action.
LOCATION
Claire Tow Theater at Lincoln Center
150 West 65th Street
New York City
[google-map-v3 width=”250″ height=”250″ zoom=”13″ maptype=”roadmap” mapalign=”left” directionhint=”false” language=”default” poweredby=”false” maptypecontrol=”true” pancontrol=”true” zoomcontrol=”true” scalecontrol=”true” streetviewcontrol=”true” scrollwheelcontrol=”false” draggable=”true” tiltfourtyfive=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkermashupbubble=”false” addmarkerlist=”150 West 65th Street New York City{}1-default.png” bubbleautopan=”true” showbike=”false” showtraffic=”false” showpanoramio=”false”]
RUNNING TIME
1 hour and 45 minutes, no intermission
TICKETS
$20 (click here to purchase tickets from Telecharge, the official online ticket seller for LUCE)
DATES
Performances through November 17, 2013
REVIEWS
New York Daily News
Intrigue around a teen and terrorism propels a strong drama starring Okieriete Onaodowan and Sharon Washington
New York Post
Luce fizzles out despite performances
New York Times
Once Their Son, Now a Riddle
Theatermania
J.C. Lee’s new play about white parents and their adopted African son gets off to a socially explosive start, but defuses by the end.
Time Out New York
We get neither an emotional nor an ideological payoff, because Lee is focused on technique, not limning the political aspects of his premise.
Village Voice
Bad Decisions Abound in Luce
CAST & CREW
(partial list)
Written by JC Lee
Directed by May Adrales
Featuring Marin Hinkle, Neal Huff, Olivia Oguma, Okieriete Onaodowan, Sharon Washington