Polanski, Polanski

Press

Men on Boats

Wild and wonderful women take charge in ACT’s Men on Boats. Briskly directed…Woodard’s production imaginatively captures the wilds of the Old West on the Strand stage. Men on Boats offers vicarious thrills with a new-found view of the past.

~ San Francisco Examiner

Exuberantly directed by Tamilla Woodard, this is a rollicking 100-minute deep dive into the nature of masculinity, conquest and power…expertly choreographed and beautifully framed …the most potent part of watching this ride-or-die crew weather whirlpools and hunger and rattlesnakes is the sheer unexpected wonderfulness of letting girls be boys for once.

~ Mercury News

Men on Boats succeeds mightily in its evocation of child’s play and giddy potential…

~ the Broadway Blog

Miami Motel Stories

an ingeniously sculpted experience...that doesn’t ask us to suspend disbelief; it begs us to believe in our humanity.

~ The Miami Herald

See Tamilla's Interview for Miami Motel Stories HERE.
Miami Motel Stories in performance HERE.

3/fifths by James Scruggs

*New York Times Critics Pick

Visually and Conceptually 3/Fifths is extraordinary. A "Must See".

~ New York Times

"The insidious brilliance of SupremacyLand lies in the way that Scruggs, along with directors Tamilla Woodard and Kareem Fahmy, co-opt the conventions of immersive theater to deliver a powerful message. In shows like Sleep No More and Then She Fell, you're encouraged to let yourself be led by actors handing you objects and ushering you into mysterious rooms; participation is encouraged, but you walk away blameless. In 3/Fifths, the performers are every bit as inviting—everything in SupremacyLand is gamified—but what they're asking you to participating in is horrifying. Yet you do it it anyway, because it would be impolite not to, right? A trip to SupremacyLand forces you to think about your relationship to a system that keeps some up and others down."

~ Jenna Scherer, Time Out

After a simulation of what it must've felt like to travel in a slave ship, we are guided to a room full of light. I feel like my soul has left my body. Full Review

~ Jose Solis, Stage Buddy

American Dreams

"This smart, provocative play deserves to go on to be produced in as many U.S. cities as are on the map. It's what we the people deserve - art that spurs thoughtful, intelligent deliberation about immigration rather than the empty, over-heated rhetoric we hear from our leaders. That's this American critic's dream."

~ Andrea Simakis, The Plain Dealer

The Block

Thanks to the utterly humane script, Woodard's savvy directing and the playing by a flawless cast, this writer's Block is completely convincing and completely successful...They're instantly recognizable and yet unpredictable...OUTSTANDING.

~ Huffington Post

The Block is a thing of beauty -- a collection of feisty, mouthy characters who speak a poetic urban argot...the conversation is always lively, often profane, and sometimes scathing...the authentic atmosphere and pungent dialogue make this one very easy to like...so enjoyable.

~ Lighting and Sound America

Hoyle's latest is vivid and moving...complemented by excellent direction and seamless production design...The Block is a frank and uncompromising look at a group of South Bronx locals who hope to escape the patterns of their pasts...An all-around tour-de-force.

~ TheaterScene

A garrulous and affectionate portrait of the contemporary South Bronx...Hoyle presents warm robust sketches of the neighborhood's gutsy dwellers.

~ New York Times

Inside

Si el teatro ya es de por sí tridimensional, esto es como el salto a una cuarta dimensión. (If the Theatre is already the 3rd dimension, this is like a leap to the 4th dimension.)

~ El País, Madrid

INSIDE es magia, comedia, drama, suspense, intriga, juego... es diálogo, expresión corporal, narración… es un todo completo, perfecto, circular, impresionante, carnal. (INSIDE is magic, comedy, drama, suspense, intrigue, play… it is dialoug, corporal expression, storytelling… it is a complete, perfect, round, impressive, carnal whole.)

~ WomanWord.com

La Ruta

*New York Times Critics Pick

A vivid and compelling new drama by Ed Cardona, Jr... Timeliness is only the first of this work’s many virtues.

~ Dan Gold, New York Times

LA RUTA is a unique experience that is as important as it is transforming... Working Theater has inspirationally gone above and beyond, harnessing the power of theater for change.

~ Sarah Lucie, Show Business Weekly

LA RUTA is adventure theater at its best... everyone should rush to get the limited amount of tickets available for this smashing production... you’re in for an unforgettable experience.

~ Mark Rifkin, This Week in NY

An immersive experience that's as timely as it is powerful.

~ Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

LA RUTA works because of its creative staging and superb acting—and it succeeds because it makes the audience physically uncomfortable and mentally estranged from a topic we all think we know something about. It reminds the audience that their silence around immigration might make them complicit in an unjust system. Even as we quickly learn to despise the smugglers and their co-conspirators, we remember that there are policies behind these stories that often mark the difference between life and death.

~ Aura Bogado, the Nation

Midsummer Nights Dream

*New York Times Critics Pick

"directed by Tamilla Woodard for Masterworks Theater Company... Warm-blooded, frolicsome and splendidly cast, this production at the 47th Street Theater leads with its heart. What this “Midsummer” achieves is all too rare."

~ New York Times, Laura Collins-Hughes

Nightlands

Change is in the air in Sylvan Oswald's "Nightlands," and neither its beneficiaries nor its potential victims know quite what to make of it... he and his inventive director, Tamilla Woodard, shrewdly double back to the two main characters [pushing] the action beyond the play’s more purple passages.

~ Eric Grode, The New York Times

Lean in close and pay attention, something is happening here. Tamilla Woodard has taken the words of Sylvan Oswald and given them ample space in which to be presented, heard, and interpreted.

~ Catherine Mueller, New York Theatre Review

Polanski Polanski

...Featuring a remarkable, compelling performance by Grant Neale and fluid and often surprising direction by Tamilla Woodard, Polanski Polanski is a show that deserves to be seen again... Woodard roots the piece in a heightened reality that always feels internally consistent. And there's a stunning moment of violent reaction in the middle section where Neale seems to tear at last into the profound rage that must have fueled some of Polanski's actions. It's a shame that the current economics of theatre-making mean that only a couple of hundred people got to see Polanski Polanski in its inaugural run at HERE. Let's hope that gets rectified in the future; Neale, Stanescu, and Woodard are exploring something interesting and vast here, and their work deserves a broad and sustained audience.

~ Martin Denton, nytheatre.com

Expatriate

Expatriate is certainly a force for good on the theatrical landscape... Director Tamilla Woodard’s direction is elegant, organic, and unpredictable.

~ NYTheatre.com

Ah Paris, Beacon of Freedom, City of Jazz With all the theater out there, how inspiring it is to be reminded how invigorating an Off Broadway play can be with just two appealing performers, compelling music and a searching, intelligent script…“Expatriate,” a two-woman production at the Culture Project delivers on all counts...As directed by Tamilla Woodard, it never lags nor gets ahead of itself.

~ Andy Webster, New York Times

Great Depth of Characters The rags-to-riches theme of "Expatriate," Lenelle Moise's new play with music that opened last night at the Culture Project, is familiar stuff. Two black women seeking musical fame in Paris find plenty of heartache along the way - drug addiction, the testing of friendships and the high price of stardom.

Yet as standard as those plot elements are, "Expatriate" delivers them in a freshly imaginative style…The story is told in nonlinear style, with both actresses playing other characters - including Omar, Claudie's drug-addicted twin brother - and is punctuated by songs performed to prerecorded rhythm tracks.

These interludes are powerfully sung and well integrated into the proceedings by director Tamilla Woodard and choreographer Nathaniel Nicco Annan, giving the evening a soulfulness and depth...

~ Frank Scheck, New York Post

Director Tamilla Woodard and choreographer Nicco Annan match the material with a striking physical language. Scenes are peppered with suggestive movement, so that certain words provoke a stylized sweep of the arm or slow drop to the ground. These gestures are used sparingly enough to be evocative, giving the production an elegant, mysterious tone...

~ Mark Blankenship, Variety

Paris is Burning "Expatriate" turned out to be a well-composed reflection…Because Moïse wrote the play, the smooth way her character worked with Mosley’s surprised me. The characters flowed together as if the actors composed it simultaneously. Also, by standing in the shadows of the stage they convincingly acted out the few male parts in the play without it being distracting. Both merits also attest that director Tamilla Woodard did her job.

~ Linnea Covington, New York Press

Man Up

…it's a hidden jewel of the fringe. 5/5 stars.

~ Bernie Greenwood, Hairline Magazine (UK)