“Terribly funny, terribly real, and fiercely original”

It is rich yet rare to find a new American play that is at once terribly funny, terribly real and utterly demanding of one's attention. Immediate Family is such a play; its fiercely original way of looking at an American black dysfunctional family is both heartwarming and completely enjoyable. In fact, I found myself looking at this black family and listening to playwright Paul Oakley Stovall's jokes about being from a black family and found myself, although white, identifying thoroughly with the issues at play. The family is black - and much of the humor is unmistakably from black culture - but the conflicts are universal. Under Phylicia Rashad's steady hand, Immediate Family in its West Coast premiere at the Taper is one great big hit.