Washington Post - Recommended
"...Director Moises Kaufman, well known as the ringleader of "The Laramie Project," bundles this into an efficient package that's handsomely hued with the tea-brown tones of history. Archival footage is projected by designer John Narun on the back wall of Derek McLane's simple yet highly theatricalized set; the stage is a nearly bare platform with a couple of desks and books, framed by old-fashioned stage lights above and microphones below. As Beaty moves and morphs, David Lander's lighting is pinpoint."
DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...The epic journey of the civil rights movement, the political struggles of the times, and the fruitless hatred of humankind towards those they do not understand are beautifully realized -and mirrored with texture and depth by Daniel Beaty as the famed Paul Robeson - in Moises Kaufman's brilliantly directed The Tallest Tree in the Forest. Now playing at the Arena Stage's Kreeger Theater, this stimulating production is a refreshing paradox and contradiction on many levels. It is a one-man show played by Beaty, yet Beaty portrays close to forty distinct characters - effortlessly making the transitions with ease from portraying his father, his brother, his wife, Harry Truman, an investigator from the House on Un-American Activities (HUAC), press reporters, a scholar, and so forth and so on."
Baltimore Sun - Highly Recommended
"...And it is the music that adds tremendous weight to the story of Robeson's 1949 visit to the Soviet Union, when Stalin's purges against Jews were underway. Beaty covers this difficult chapter sensitively, first enacting the singer's encounter with soon-to-be-executed poet Itzik Feffer, then re-creating the remarkably brave gesture when Robeson ended a Moscow concert with a song in Yiddish from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"...The Tallest Tree in the Forest proves to be a very solid rendering of Robeson's story, delivered with outstanding sound design, production, and music. The show opens with-what else?-Robeson singing "Ol' Man River," the Showboat anthem chock full of racial stereotypes, slurs, and a catchy refrain about a Mississippi River that just keeps rollin' along."
Washingtonian - Highly Recommended
"...The Tallest Tree in the Forest smartly uses music to move along Robeson's story, including classics such as "The Joint Is Jumpin'" and spirituals like "Get on Board Lil' Chillun." The show directly addresses Showboat's complicated relationship with race, and Beaty's several versions of "Ol' Man River," one with rewritten lyrics, demonstrate how the song can be, at turns, problematic, heartbreakingly beautiful, and powerful."
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"...Written and performed by Daniel Beaty, The Tallest Tree in the Forest is one of the most ambitious and complex examples of the first-person biographical show, a genre pioneered by Hal Holbrook in Mark Twain Tonight and including successful pieces about Emily Dickinson (The Belle of Amherst) and Harry Truman (Give 'Em Hell, Harry). Beaty's subject is the great 20th century African-American singer, actor, and political activist Paul Robeson. Beaty gives a powerful, passionate performance as a ferociously intelligent, immensely talented, intensely driven man who attained wide fame and influence but whose career was wrecked by the anti-Communist witch hunts of the 1940s and 50s. Given that many, especially younger, people today may not be familiar with Robeson, the production is a welcome introduction to this man who refused to allow his life, his causes, and his art to be separate from one another."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...Director Moises Kaufman and his production team have done a wonderful job supporting Beaty and his work. The show's pacing and visual aesthetic enhance every action and idea. Set designer Derek McLane has created a wonderful unique environment for Tallest Tree, a strange cross between an old decaying theatre and a living room. With lights by David Lander the space transforms almost as often as Beaty does. And a special acknowledgement must be given to the visually dramatic lynching that binds us like barbed wire in the second act."
DCTheatreScene - Recommended
Daniel Beaty’s original play The Tallest Tree in the Forest at Arena Stage follows controversial performer and activist Paul Robeson, initially renowned for his singing, but later labeled a communist traitor and blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
