News Summary

• Finally, there’s little Ainsley (played at the reviewed performance by Lincoln Cohen), who mostly runs rampant through the old house – and who delivers one of the most startling Act I closing moments in recent memory..
• Toni fancies herself a truth-teller, and to a large extent she is, but she’s also oblivious to the truths that cut too close, from her late father’s secrets to the hate lurking beneath the surface of her teenage son’s silence..
• But first, let’s meet the family: There’s eldest sibling Toni (Paulson), whose anger and cruel outbursts are equaled only by her blind allegiance to her late father..
• Playing out on a massive, two-tiered set gorgeously designed by the dots collective, Appropriate sets itself up early on as a fairly standard, battle-for-money family dogfight before taking a decidedly horrific turn..
• Like those cicadas, which we’re reminded stay underground for 13 years before invading our surface turf, hate, along with secrets and grudges, has a way of making itself known..
• These questions fuel the family battle that follows, as each character struggles to come to terms – or not – with a legacy inextricably tied to America’s ugliest history..