Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

Suzi Sadler ©2025  Laura Butler Rivera, B. Brian Argotsinger, Doris Mirescu, Marcos Toledo, David Skeist, Yaremis Felix, Tania Molina

Javierantonio Gonzalez’s Open Up, Hadrian tells the story of the Roman emperor Hadrian through a contemporary lens, cleverly paralleling Hadrian's life and concerns with the intellectual and philosophical questions pondered by today’s men and woman who seek to find their place in a more equitable world order. Much like our current cultural climate, Hadrian lived in an era of enlightment following a more fundamentalist past. Hadrian was a reformist, fixated on the writings and philosophy of the more cerebral Greek culture, and particularly fixated on the Greek slave boy Antinous whom he loved above all others. But in Open Up, Hadrian, the emperor’s high-minded ideals do not always match with the realities of his life and the militant Empire he is meant to rule. 

Meiyin Wang directs Open Up, Hadrian with skill and imagination, employing avant garde  " experimental" and European sensibilities and a superior understanding of space. Open Up, Hadrian is aesthetically stunning, beautiful staging met by creative design. The production takes over the Magic Futurebox warehouse space, and the audience is led from vignette to vignette as the play travels forward through space and time. The setting, designed by Jian Jung, becomes fantastical through its mix of the abstract and the practical, drawing from both the historical period and the industrial reality of the warehouse theatre, creating a space that both the cast and audience inhabit. The lighting by Tim Cryan is done entirely with non-theatrical fixtures, lending to the rawness of the piece and the general permeation of the production into the essence of the room. Elizabeth Barrett Groth's costumes stand alone as their own work of art, an original collection that has details alluding to the historic source of the material. As the script progresses in tone from historical drama to contemporary style, so do Groth’s clothes.

Suzi Sadler ©2025  Doris Mirescu and Luis Moreno

The script proves as smart as it is eloquent. Gonzalez employs emotional torrents mixed with philosophical discussions in a way reminiscent of Greek drama. The play is elegantly constructed and engrossing for the audience. Open Up, Hadrian brings dramatically compelling action to a discussion of some of the fundamental questions of the human life. It’s quite wonderful.

The cast of Open Up, Hadrian is something of a mixed bag, bringing different acting styles and different personal strengths. The ensemble is led by David Skeist who creates a subtle, honest, and realistic performance on which the show can hang. The beautiful Yaremis Felix glimmers with a strong presence and charming style as a conniving courtier in the first act and then as a poet in the second. As family slave Germana, Tania Molina makes staunch compelling. But Doris Mirescu steals the stage as the eccentric (insane“) Plotina, Hadrian’s step-mother, both hilarious and desperate. Mirescu employs a more presentational, self-conscious acting style and makes strong choices throughout her performance. She is a welcome sight whenever she enters the playing space.

In addition to its environmental nature, the production also employs tone-setting sound by Elizabeth Rhodes and a live video element.

Open Up, Hadrianis an exciting, imaginative, and thoughtful new production, that’s sophistication makes it particularly suited to well-versed theatristas. Yes, the production in the middle of nowhere, and the show is longer, but the trek and the time are worth it. This is a play you want to see if you are enticed by creative theatre.