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Books

Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press

Pass Over

by Antoinette Nwandu

From an extraordinary new voice in American theater, a startling play that examines the cyclical ravages of racial injustice and violence on two young black men.

  • Imprint Grove Paperback
  • Page Count 112
  • Publication Date August 13, 2019
  • ISBN-13 978-0-8021-4742-4
  • Dimensions 5.5" x 8.25"
  • US List Price $17.00
  • Imprint Grove Paperback
  • Publication Date July 09, 2019
  • ISBN-13 978-0-8021-4743-1
  • US List Price $16.00

Moses and Kitch stand around on the corner—talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space with his own agenda and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young men stuck in a cycle that they are desperately trying to escape. Spike Lee directed a film version of the play that premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and South by Southwest, and was produced by Amazon Studios. A provocative riff on the Book of Exodus and Waiting for GodotPass Over is a remarkable work of politically-charged theater by a bold new American voice.

Praise for Pass Over:

“Searing . . . Blazingly theatrical . . . Moses and Kitch are a dispossessed team like [Beckett’s] Vladimir and Estragon, stuck in an existential cycle of hopelessness they try to master with gallows humor and jags of deluded optimism . . . Creates a vivid world of injustice while riffing on earlier ones . . . Resonates as a powerful tragedy.”New York Times

“Chilling . . . Combines daring near-experimental form and brutal content: what’s at work is not some mysterious cosmic existentialism à la Beckett, but very real, very tangible racism.”New Yorker

“In the insanity of a city filled with guns, and people ready and willing to use them whenever temperatures rise, waiting isn’t so much a malaise as a badge of survival. That’s one of the takeaways of Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over, a very potent and promising play. . . The language in the work is thrilling, poetical.”Chicago Tribune

“An intimate political play that grapples with epic themes and is likely to leave you shaken.”TimeOut

“A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, the play exposes the emotional cycle of young men stuck in a pattern and looking for a way out.”—WNYC

“Emotional, sobering. . . Fiercely poetic.”Daily Herald

“Stunning and lyrical. . . Should be on every theatergoer’s ‘must see’ list.”Broadway World