The Box

After reading this review, I find it unfortunate that Mr. Cote was unable to attend the same play that the rest of the audience was privy to. Perhaps his blunder began when he mistakenly included it in his series of reviews on racially themed plays. One can better understand and hope that after seeing the performance and realizing his mistake, he felt compelled to dissect the background of the projects, and bring it to the forefront as the theme in order to comply with his series. Should the case actually be that he attended and misunderstood it to the extent of the review, I find it unfortunate for Time Out that they employ such a reviewer to represent their reputable publishing with misconceptions and ignorance that people turn to regularly to filter semi-adequate productions from those of value. The Box is a story of a girl who dreamed of better circumstances than she was born into. Through self education and preservation, Kammer's life became a dichotomy between a home in the projects, and an education in an ivy league prep school. Her exploration of this relationship between her two selves is told in a darkly comic way. She speaks from the innocent perspective of a child on issues that make you unsure of whether to cringe in discomfort or smile at her perseverance. In her youth, she is drawn to the artist Joseph Cornell, who uses boxes to express memories and emotion. In her relationship with his work, she utilizes his box theme as a coping device, collecting the memories of her childhood in the boxes of her life. These boxes now serve as a concrete path of stepping stones to the person she is today. The box is a story of survival, and of overcoming obstacles that seem insurmountable to most. The Box that she comes to rest in is the theater, where speaking these memories is a therapeutic release for the traumatic events of her childhood. Her story is told with tenderness, sensitivity, and humor, capturing the innocence of a child. She is passionate and talented, providing the audience with an opportunity to put their own trials in perspective. Just ask every other review.