The world premiere of The Hang, which plays a limited engagement at HERE through February 20, has received generally positive reviews from New York theater critics. Rooted in jazz and opera, the show imagines the last hours of Socrates, as he hosts a final inquiry about virtue. The creative team includes Taylor Mac (book, lyrics), Matt Ray (music, music direction), Niegel Smith (direction), Chanon Judson (choreography), Machine Dazzle (sets, costumes), Kate McHee (lights), Cricket S. Myers (sound), and Anastasia Durasova (make-up). The cast includes Taylor Mac (Socrates) with performers Kenneth Ard, El Beh, Ryan Chittaphong, Kat Edmonson, Queen Esther, Wesley Garlington, Trebien Pollard, and Synead Cidney Nichols, accompanied by Matt Rays (keys) and musicians Jonathan Beshay, Greg Glassman, J. Walter Hawkes, Jessica Lurie, Joel E. Mateo, Lisa Parrott, and Gary Wang.
El Beh, Garlington, and Mac (photo by Maria Baranova)
New York Times (Laura Collins-Hughes): Surrender to the glorious, glamorous muchness of the mystery that is The Hang, a show for which you will not have all the proper information — not in advance, not as you’re experiencing it, maybe not even afterward. … The Hang feels like a celebration of theater itself — a paean to collaboration and company, to rampant beauty and to the necessary balm of gathering together. … It is a pleasure. The Hang is a show that speaks to the restlessness and longing of this moment, and offers comfort in sensuous pleasure. At a time of loneliness and anxiety, it extols and exemplifies one of theater’s greatest virtues — communion.
Theater Mania (Zachary Stewart): The Hang depicts the final hours in the life of Socrates through 100 minutes of operatic jazz. … From the moment percussionist Joel Mateo strikes up a cymbal roll, The Hang grabs hold of your imagination and doesn’t let go. A huge part of that is the fantastical scenic and costume design. … It all feels like being invited to a secret party in a city ruled by killjoys. … The most daring aspect of The Hang is also its most heartening: About a man’s death from hemlock poisoning, it is unfailingly joyous, and never takes itself too seriously. It is a radical declaration of queer frivolity in our severe age, and it restores my faith that there is still room for dangerous ideas and weird people in the New York theater.
The Wrap (Robert Hofler): This blissfully bizarre new opera … dazzles immediately — with the cast of nine getting to wear fabulous outfits by Machine Dazzle. The designer also uses what tulle, sequins and crepe was left over to dress up the gaudy womb-like set. The jazz score, with detours into blues and gospel, is always arresting and often beguiling in its textured beauty, not to mention its variety. … The Hang delivers a half dozen endings after the hemlock should have done its work. The very good news: Repeatedly, just when another song is not needed, Mac’s lyrics and Ray’s music prove more seductive than ever. … Socrates’ very long demise here recalls a New Orleans jazz funeral complete with a marching brass band.