Written by Nina Evans for THE ARTISTS FORUM MAGAZINE
Edited by Amos White V for THE ARTISTS FORUM, INC
Photos by Emmanuel Abreu and Nina Evans
REVIEWER RATINGS:
4 out of 5 stars
DOMINO EFFECT
NEW YORK, NY (April 8, 2025) The People’s Theatre presents, in collaboration with Boundless Theatre Company and Latinx Playwrights Circle, a new play called Domino Effect written by Marco Antonio Rodriguez & directed by Mino Lora. Set in a small Washington Heights park, a group of immigrants from different walks of life, united by unexpected shared experiences, and general, human desires to be understood.
The play surrounds four characters from four different generations: Mandi, played by Tony Macy-Perez, a baby boomer who shuns his Cuban heritage and leads a strictly private life; Pepper, played by Willie the Genius, a spiritual, playful, and fierce Gen-X transgender woman on the eve of gender-affirming surgery; Atash, played by Shadi Ghaheri, a queer millennial refugee from Iran, whose whimsical attitude acts in stark contrast to her PTSD; and Gisel, played by Angela Reynoso, a Gen-Z Dominican girl dealing with the weight of grief and family expectations.
Pepper, Atash, and Gisel go to the park to perform a ceremony to celebrate the next step in Pepper’s transition. There, they meet Mandi, who has come by himself to the park with a set of dominoes. United by a round of the game, the characters begin to engage in a conversation— at times, an argument— about a range of topics. Political correctness, immigration and immigrant identity, generational differences when it comes to processing trauma, queerness & openness… All seems to be encompassed in this one night in the park. As emotional walls come down, the four realize they have much more in common than they realize. It takes time, though, for the characters to gain a strong sense of empathy for each other. Only through small admissions and moments of trust are they able to break the ice and overcome their preconceived notions of one another.
At times, the conversation felt over-belligerent— I wondered, why argue over something so pedantic as a word choice, why shut down a discussion when it’s just starting to make progress? But perhaps the characters exert a necessary pressure upon each other, because the connections they form are ultimately far deeper than people in a typical debate are able to make. I walked away from the production considering what we owe each other. Is it political enough to live a happy, quiet life as a marginalized person? Should queer people feel compelled to be queer loudly— if not for ourselves, do we owe it to others, the future generation, to be as visible and possible, to make progress for them? What does it mean to belong to a community? Domino Effect explores these topics with nuance and allows you to form your opinion. The latter half of the play has a beautiful depiction of collective grief, elements of magical realism that upped the stakes interestingly, and an especially strong final monologue from Mandi that was deeply moving and has stuck with me long after leaving the theater.
Before the play started, in the reception area, there was a domino table bringing theatergoers together, just as the dominoes assemble the characters in the play. I overheard a group laugh and one person explained the rules to two people who had never played before. On the wall, a poster reads, “What’s the most NY thing that’s ever happened to you?” People scribbled their answers on domino-shaped sticky notes and assembled them together in an interwoven web. In a world splintered by political, cultural, and generational divides, Domino Effect is a call to action. It shows us the importance of community, of forming community with those around us. Domino Effect will run through April 26th at A.R.T. / New York Theatres Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre at 502 West 53rd Street.
For tickets & more about Domino Effect: https://thepeoplestheatre.org/domino-effect/
For more about The People’s Theatre: https://thepeoplestheatre.org/about-us/
