Tiny Beautfiul Things
Opening Night: December 7, 2016
Closing: December 31, 2016
Theater: The Public Theater
Academy Award-nominated writer and actress Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) makes her Public Theater debut with a richly funny, uniquely uplifting new show based on the book Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, the best-selling author of Wild. Vardalos is Sugar, the anonymous online advice columnist—later revealed to be Strayed—who thousands of people have turned to for words of wisdom, honesty and hope. At first unsure of herself, Sugar finds a way to weave her own life experiences together with the deep yearning and real problems of her readers, creating a beloved column about the monstrous beauty, endless dark and glimmering light at the heart of being human. Tony Award winner Thomas Kail (Dry Powder, Hamilton) directs this exceptionally moving new play about reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answer.
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December 7, 2016
Whenever a certain flicker — of curiosity, recognition and bone-deep affinity — lights up the gaze of the woman who calls herself Sugar, brace yourself for a good (and good is the word) cry. You can first spot that wakening flame in the opening minutes of “Tiny Beautiful Things,” the handkerchief-soaking meditation on pain, loss, hope and forgiveness that opened on Wednesday night at the Public Theater. At that point, a professional writer who is also a mother of two has just agreed, via phone, to be the agony aunt for an unpaid online advice column called “Dear Sugar.” Portrayed by Nia Vardalos, the newly anointed Sugar finds her toy-cluttered kitchen and living room invaded by a multitude of voices, embodied by three performers who circle her like wandering satellites. Questions pour out of them, about being seasick and about being spied on (by the widow next door), about needing money and about having an eighth-grade science class partner who picks his nose. But it’s the guy who identifies himself as “Confused” who causes Sugar to open her eyes wider and really, really focus.
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