IYOM

During the first few minutes of Iyom I had my doubts: wasn't this girl, tossing glitter into the air as she claimed to work her magic, just a little too much? But I was soon won over, not only by the performance of Monique A. Robinson, who plays Zaki at both 12 and 30, but by the entire cast, by the well-crafted language, and by a story that gains in power as it unfolds. Playwright Lou-Lou Igbokwe vividly renders a world that was new to me--that of Nigerian immigrants. Conflicts between their old and new cultures contribute to a universal family drama--one that had me in tears by the end. Iyom is a play of grace, beauty, bitterness, joy--and, yes, magic. It's a play I won't soon forget.

This weekend is your last chance to see this extraordinary play in its current production at the Workshop Theater. I hope there'll be another before long.

workshoptheater.org/mainstage/2013/iyom