Theater Feature and Review: "No Child..."

There is a moment in No Child…, the first play of Syracuse Stage’s 38th season, when main character Nilaja sits alone in a chair, lit by a single spotlight. She ponders the deficiencies of the American education system, which has led to apathetic, unqualified teachers and uninspired, underachieving and even cruel students.

“But I chose to teach in my city, the city that raised me, and I'm tired,” she says, visibly drained and frustrated. And that is the central message of No Child..., laid out clearly.

The play, written by Nilaja Sun, focuses on a teaching artist who has to find a way to intellectually engage a group of 10th graders at the fictional Malcolm X High School. She does so by making them analyze, rehearse and perform a play by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Our Country’s Good.

And because she is giving this assignment to a group of teenagers, naturally, there would be a Justin Timberlake joke. It’s the humorous moments like this that gives the play its authenticity.

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And here is the profile on the actress, Reenah L. Golden.