The Boston Globe
- Highly Recommended
"...In a collaboration from SpeakEasy Stage Company and the Front Porch Arts Collective, under the sure-handed direction of Dawn M. Simmons, "Ain't No Mo'" delivers a combination of knockabout comedy, stiletto-sharp satire, and scalding fury - the kind of abrupt transitions where your laugh dies in your throat."
WBUR
- Highly Recommended
"...I'm unsure if I've ever been as moved, devastated and simultaneously entertained as when I watched Front Porch Arts Collective and SpeakEasy Stage Company's production of Jordan E. Cooper's "Ain't No Mo'""
Joyce's Choices
- Highly Recommended
"...On a simple set enhanced at key moments with effective video projections, director Dawn M. Simmons has her finger firmly on the pulse of this tonally tricky material, simultaneously locating its humor, rage, and pain. She elicits hilarious, heart-wrenching, and extravagantly detailed performances from this nimble ensemble."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...Written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Dawn M. Simmons, the Boston premiere of this Tony-nominated series of provocative satirical sketches explores various facets of Black life in the United States, challenging audiences to consider whether racism can ever truly be eradicated. It's the kind of humor that leaves you saying, "I can't believe they said that," blending sharp wit with moments of profound sadness. The phenomenal performances capture and embody these contradictions, making for a powerful and unforgettable experience."
Edge
- Highly Recommended
"..."Ain't No Mo,'" a funny, fast-paced, highly satirical, utterly irreverent, and sometimes brutally shocking play by queer playwright Jordan E. Cooper, was nominated for multiple Tony Awards in 2022. The production, now playing at the Boston Center for the Arts - a collaboration between The Front Porch Arts Collective and SpeakEasy Stage Company, directed by Dawn M. Simmons - makes it easy to see why. Cooper precisely dissects America's stubborn institutional racism (a national trait that has recently taken to the denial of its own existence) and finds uproarious humor in its absurdities and gut-punch pathos in the staggering, and ongoing, havoc it wreaks."
The Arts Fuse
- Highly Recommended
"...Jordon Cooper's scathing sketch comedy show about racism and Blackness in America premiered in the aftermath of the Obama administration when America took a sharp right turn into the Trump circus tent of chaos. Now that the tent (and its attendant freak show) is once again open for business, the script is even more relevant today. Could there be any doubt, given the alarming results of November's election: a convicted felon, whose minions lean into racist and sexist tropes, is back in the White House."
New England Theater Mirror
- Recommended
"...Jordan E. Cooper's Ain't No Mo is a complicated, uneven, scathing, audacious, and hilarious rollercoaster ride of a play. It covers a lot of ground, and Cooper dips his pen into the inkwell of every genre known to playwrights: from satire, allegory, fiction, and parody to tragedy and Shakespeare-worthy soliloquy."
METR Mag
- Recommended
"...SpeakEasy Stage Company, in association with Front Porch Arts Collective, offers up the fabulous "AIN'T NO MO'," a biting satire with a phenomenally versatile ensemble cast that not only has teeth...it has fangs."
