Manahatta 2023

Opened: December 5, 2023
Closing: December 17, 2023

Manahatta - 2023 - Off-Broadway History , Info & More

Anspacher Theatre

425 Lafayette Street (between Astor Place & 4th St) New York, NY

A gripping journey from the fur trade of the 1600s to the stock trade of today, Mary Kathryn Nagle's MANAHATTA tells the story of Jane Snake, a brilliant young Native American woman with a Stanford MBA. Jane reconnects with her ancestral Lenape homeland, known as Manahatta, when she moves from Oklahoma to New York for a banking job just before the 2008 financial meltdown. Jane’s struggle to reconcile her new life with the expectations and traditions of her family and Nation are powerfully interwoven with the heartbreaking history of the Delaware Nation's expulsion from their land. Both old and new Manahatta converge in a lesson about the dangers of living in a society where there’s no such thing as enough.

A stunning play about self-discovery, MANAHATTA was written as part of The Public’s prestigious Emerging Writers Group. Obie Award winner and The Public’s Director of Public Works, Laurie Woolery, directs.

FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Manahatta

MANAHATTA: HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF, DIDACTICALLY

5 / 10

It’s hard to avoid the sound of gears grinding while you’re watching Manahatta, now playing at the Public Theater. Mary Kathryn Nagle’s drama takes place both in modern times, culminating in the 2008 financial crisis, and in the 1600s, when both Native Americans and Dutch settlers were populating the island that gives the play its name. As the action shifts back and forth in time, it painstakingly accentuates the similarities in the manner in which the country’s original inhabitants were screwed over by the European colonists and modern-day Americans by exploitative financial markets. By the time the evening’s over, you’ll be impressed by the playwright’s logistical ingenuity. But you won’t have been particularly moved. Manahatta ultimately feels like a thesis in search of a play.

MANAHATTA: A SMART FOCUS ON WHO REALLY OWNS MANHATTAN

6 / 10

What Manahatta can take pride in is the cast brought together by careful director Laurie Woolery and the Public’s casting folks, Heidi Griffiths, Jordan Thaler, and Joy Dickson. In his bio, Nassi mentions he’s an enrolled member of The Otoe-Missouria Tribe/Cherokee Nation. Great to know. How times have changed with the advent of this play and others of like origins across the populations. How finally current they are.

Other Productions of Manahatta

2023

Off-Broadway

Public Theater New York Premiere Production
Off-Broadway

Manahatta - 2023 Off-Broadway Awards and Nominations

Note: Award winners will appear on a background

Year	Ceremony	Category	Nominee
2024	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Costume Design of a Play	Lux Haac
2024	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play	Sheila Tousey
2024	The Lortels	Outstanding Costume Design	Lux Haac

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