My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer – Location, Tickets, Reviews
My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer is the second of Brian Watkins’ Prairie Plays, in which the young playwright explores themes of violence and its origins. The first, High Plains, premiered at FringeNYC in 2009 and received high marks.
Estranged sisters Sarah and Hannah are stuck in a middle-of-nowhere town in Colorado taking care of their sick and manipulative mother. Hannah, the younger, is a free-spirited, sarcastic waitress, while the responsible and matter-of-fact Sarah is their mother’s primary caretaker. The only thing that unites them is their mutual hate for Vicky, their mother’s beloved pet sheep.
Through intertwining monologues — the sisters never talk to each other, only to the audience — Sarah and Hannah unravel their complicated relationships with each other and their overbearing mother. But what starts as a story of sisterly rivalry eventually takes a gory turn, as the sisters recount in great detail a fateful, horrific night tainted by violence that brought them together. We won’t say more, so we don’t spoil the story . . . or your dinner.
Maxamoo
Brian Watkins’ play is a powerful piece of writing, delivered with skill by Katherine Folk-Sullivan (Sarah) and Layla Khoshnoudi (Hannah). The monologue structure and its eerie direction (by Danya Taymor, Julie Taymor’s niece) give it a fireside horror story feel. We were transfixed.
But unlike a horror story, My Daughter also offers psychological complexity. Questions of victim and perpetrator, actions and consequences, and familial ties are explored with nuance. The intense performances of the two actresses (particularly Folk-Sullivan, whose character, Sarah, is also the more interesting), are blended with moments of humor that are quite welcome in such an unsettling — yet effective — production.
Public Opinion
My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer is playing in a small theater and several future shows are already sold out. The early social media buzz is enthusiastic:
@alissamarie: Tom and I saw “My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer,” a one-act by Brian Watkins, at @thefleatheater last night. And it was tremendous. Go see it.
@b_Locke: Not to be missed! ‘My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer’ from Brooklyn-based writer Brian Watkins @TheFleaTheater http://tinyurl.com/qbmffz9
@thekatyen: Pumped for My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer @TheFleaTheater. Been hearing amazing things about it all week!
Have you seen My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer? What did you think? Comment below or tweet us at @Maxamoo.
Critics Reviews
New York Times
Two Sisters With Secrets, Desperate for Escape
NYTheater Now
The play has some powerful images and great characters but My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer is still a draft or two from done.
TheaterMania
The Flea Theater stages a tale of sisters haunted by their past and violent present.
[E]ven though I will confess to not understanding the significance of the title, My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer is a deeply compelling work by a writer to be reckoned with.
OffOffOnline
The Black Sheep of the Flock
TICKETS
$15-$35 (click here for tickets)
DATES
Extended through March 1, 2014
LOCATION
The Flea Theater
41 White Street
New York City
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RUNNING TIME
55 minutes, no intermission
CAST & CREW
Written by Brian Watkins
Directed by Danya Taymor
Featuring Katherine Folk-Sullivan, Layla Khoshnoudi, Hannah Finn (understudy), Kate Thulin (understudy)