P.Y.G. or the Misedumacation of Dorian Belle at Studio Theatre

P.Y.G. or the Misedumacation of Dorian Belle

Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW Washington

Dorian Belle is a big deal. He's a Canadian pop sweetheart, and he's ready to be taken seriously. So his people hire his favorite hip-hop artists-Black and Alexand, the 'bad boy' rappers of Petty Young Goons-to help him toughen up his image. They're black, he's white. They're from Chicago, he's from Canada. It's all on reality TV. What could go wrong? Inspired by Shaw's Pygmalion, this world premiere is a blistering and entertaining look at cultural and racial appropriation in a fictionalized exchange of ideologies, vernacular, and alleged street cred.

Thru - Apr 28, 2019

Price: $20-$55

Box Office: 202-332-3300

www.studiotheatre.org/plays/play-detail/2018-2019-PYG

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P.Y.G. or the Misedumacation of Dorian Belle Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...One of the challenges is a technical hurdle for the actors: How do you scale the performance for both the live audience and for the fake reality TV show? The rhythm is balky as the trio toggles back and forth. The production in the rough, intimate Studio X space takes pains to incorporate a couple of small cameras and to use the back wall for Kelly Colburn's projections; the show wants a hip visual language. Yet despite playing pop star characters, the actors too rarely command the stage."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...The real delight at the center of P.Y.G. is that in it, although it is said to be built on the notion of Shaw’s play Pygmalion and the makeover craze, it’s clear that there are some limits to how far people can be made over."

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- Barbara Mackay

MetroWeekly - Recommended

"...The conversation rarely gets as real onstage as it does in Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s scathing new comedy P.Y.G. or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle. Yet, in a display of showmanship that’s carried through in every fiber of Chisholm’s world-premiere production of his play at Studio Theatre, the playwright-director couches that realness within the amusing fiction of a reality show about two black rappers hired to teach a white, Canadian-born pop star how to up his swag game."

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- Andre Hereford

Talkin Broadway - Recommended

"...The actors are all fully invested in their roles, helped by Danielle Preston's on-the-nose costumes: Kiser, naïve but determined, doe-eyed in a white blouse with ruffled cuffs and a bow at the neck; Perkins, serious with his cropped hair and baseball cap; and Hill, in a bright shirt and dreadlocks pulled into a crown on top of his head."

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- Susan Berlin

DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended

"...Brilliantly funny writing is at the core of P.Y.G. Playwright and Director Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm delivers heavy punches with each punchline and packs biting societal criticisms into the dialogue. Not even the theatre world's darling, Hamilton, is safe, as Black and Alexand agree that a similar show with such a premise is just a way for "white people to say they had a 'cultural experience'." Chisholm calls out issues in American race relations without hesitation. In fact, he has created a world in which these issues are now literal products that are advertised during the reality show's "commercial breaks"."

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- Emily Priborkin

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...Making his directorial debut, Chisholm enfuses each scene with messaging, sometimes overt and sometimes more subtle, but always there. There is no wasted dialogue, no wasted action. Even seemingly minor conflicts, such as whether you're from Chicago or Naperville, are loaded with meaning and consequence. P.Y.G. or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle is also a very physically demanding piece. The action moves swiftly between scenes, with quick changes and tempo changes abounding. Additionally, each of the three actors is physically very distinct from the others, but all inhabit their respective character in both body and speech."

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- Sarah Murphy

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P.Y.G. or the Misedumacation of Dorian Belle at Studio Theatre