Other Desert Cities Broadway Revival: A Painfully Timely Drama — SkimNews
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- 'Other Desert Cities' has been revived on Broadway for the first time since 2011, directed by John Benjamin Hickey and featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery and Lily Rabe.
- Jon Robin Baitz's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play is set on Christmas Eve 2004 at a wealthy Republican family's Palm Springs home in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks, exploring grief, memory and ideology.
- Lily Rabe's Brooke character triggers the central conflict when she reveals her upcoming book is a memoir about her older brother Henry, who died by suicide after his involvement in a cult bombing that left a man dead.
- The Wyeth family is split by politics — the parents' casual racism draws cringes from their adult children — while Polly (Louis-Dreyfus) erupts in fury at Brooke's memoir and threatens to disown her.
- The review calls the production 'gutting, witty and painfully timely,' praising the ensemble's seamless shifts from quippy wit — including Polly's jab that sarcasm is 'only for teenagers and homosexuals' — to volatile, heartbreaking outbursts.
- A long-held secret revealed by Lyman (Ed Harris) eventually brings Brooke 'to her knees,' embodying the production's thesis that 'the truth often depends on who tells it.'
- The setting — a sprawling beige living room with a Christmas tree topped by a Star of David, designed by scenic designer Scott Pask — anchors what the review calls 'an exquisite portrait of 21st-century Americana.'
- John Benjamin Hickey directs, with the production described as 'smart, authentic and deeply satisfying,' its political and familial fault lines feeling newly relevant in the current cultural moment.
Why it matters: A drama first staged in 2011 now lands as a searing portrait of American families fractured by ideology — the parents' staunch Republicanism and casual racism clash with their adult children's values, a divide the review calls 'painfully timely.' For Broadway audiences, the revival delivers a genuine ensemble event: Louis-Dreyfus makes her Broadway debut opposite Harris, Janney and Rabe, which is why competing reviews (Deadline, NYT) all lead with her debut performance as the marquee selling point.
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