This review talks about domestic abuse. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence or an abusive relationship, call the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) or visit www.thehotline.org. Callers can remain anonymous.
NEW YORK – Whether on the largest screen or smallest stage, it’s impossible to take your eyes off Lupita Nyong’o.
Earlier this summer, the Oscar winner made the most of a minor role, transfixing moviegoers as the brutalized Helen of Troy in Christopher Nolan’s epic “The Odyssey.” Now, she’s following up the mythic blockbuster with a far more intimate yet no less shattering turn in “Pre-Existing Condition,” which opened Sept. 14 at the Greenwich House Theater.
Playing to an audience of
just under 200 at the unassuming off-Broadway venue, Nyong’o commands the stage with blistering authenticity and unfettered emotion for the entire 75-minute runtime as a woman simply known as A, who is struggling to move forward from an abusive relationship.
Through conversations with friends, family and therapists ‒ portrayed by a supporting cast of three actors in myriad roles ‒ A wrestles with the questions that haunt many survivors of intimate partner violence. Were there red flags that she might’ve missed? What does justice look like to her? Will she always be defined by this trauma? And how does she reckon with the love she still feels for her ex?
“Pre-Existing Condition” is written with piercing candor by actress Marin Ireland, who made headlines following a 2012 domestic dispute with actor Scott Shepherd, her then-boyfriend. Ireland doesn’t shy away from the thornier aspects of recovery and the cruel ways that survivors can blame themselves.
At one point, A confesses to a therapist (Dael Orlandersmith) that she always thought women who got hit by their boyfriends were “trash” and that she’d never be that “stupid.” (“There are days when I feel like maybe I always was trash and this experience just made me see that finally,” A says.)
Later, while talking to a friend (Greg Keller), A wonders whether it’s her fault for slapping her partner days before the incident. (“I feel like I did this to myself,” A confides, before her companion reminds her that no man should ever strike a woman.)
Ireland agonizingly captures the everyday indignities and legal roadblocks that survivors may encounter. Lawyers dismiss A’s case for being too low stakes financially, while a mutual friend (Sarah Steele) insists that she forgive her boyfriend merely because he feels bad.
“I feel like I’m becoming the villain,” A says forlornly, overwhelmed by exhaustion and frustration. “I’m becoming this obsessive, vengeful figure because he said he’s sorry, so I’m the problem now.”
Nyong’o manages to convey all of A’s pent-up anguish with a richly considered and lived-in performance. Her subtle gestures speak volumes: anxiously tapping her neck and biting her lip as A shrinks into her oversized cardigan, a bundle of raw nerves and combustible energy.
Her face crumples amid strained phone calls with A’s oblivious mother, while her eyes blaze like a four-alarm fire during a crushing panic attack brought on by a pushy date. But Nyong’o delicately keeps her tears at bay, beautifully reflecting the confidence and mettle that A begins to regain by play’s end.
Despite her Oscar-winning debut in 2013’s “12 Years a Slave,” Nyong’o has rarely taken lead roles outside of the horror genre, which makes it all the more gratifying to see her in a part that allows her to showcase all the tools in her arsenal.
After Nyong’o departs the production Sept. 26, a rotating cast will also get a chance to put their own unique stamp on A, including Hari Nef (“Barbie”), Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”), Susannah Flood (“Liberation”), Whitney White (“Ocean’s 8”), and Edie Falco (“The Sopranos”), returning to the show after its 2024 off-Broadway outing.
With its sage script and unshakeable leading turn, “Pre-Existing Condition” offers a vital reminder that healing isn’t linear and pain cannot be neatly qualified.
“It’s not a memory in my mind,” A says. “It’s in my body.”
“Pre-Existing Condition” runs at the Greenwich House Theatre (27 Barrow Street) through Jan. 8, 2027.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lupita Nyong’o will floor you in searing 'Odyssey' follow-up – Review
