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