Kimberly Akimbo – 02 June 2023

Kimberly Akimbo presents a warm, heartfelt story, at once ridiculously absurd and astonishingly touching. Through a variety of characters, it captures what it’s like to know you’re going to die, but also what it’s like to know you’re going to have to live. The delicate framework of high school students who want a future but don’t know what, adult relatives who have hit the bottom and are scrambling back up, and parents who are simultaneously preparing for a new baby and the imminent loss of their first born. The show is excellently constructed to showcase the unrealistic nature of teenagers’ wishes and the crushing reality of what desperate adults are driven to when they are running out of time to accomplish their own. Kimberly Akimbo draws on what people at different stages in life think is important—everything from tree houses to show choir costumes to lots of money to a having a baby.

Despite the cheesy concept and hilarious moments like “Skater Planet”, “How to Wash a Check”, and “Our Disease”, there were some conceptual moments that were deeply unsettling. For instance, when Kim comes home from the hospital and her parents, who were not there with her in what they assumed were her last moments, had cleared out her room to make room for the new baby. I was profoundly disturbed by the soul crushing idea that the mother who prayed for her in “Father Time” and the father who wanted to protect her from teenage boys in “Happy for Her” could step away, could move on so quickly. Even though Kimberly’s parents had been preparing for her death for sixteen years, the negligence they showed in this moment was truly appalling. In a way, it helped validate Deborah’s desperation by revealing the lack of empathy, which is also confirmed in “The Inevitable Turn.”

The show is full of the complications and contradictions of loving someone and the inevitability of losing them, which is ultimately life’s “Great Adventure.” My primary criticism of this show feels equally inevitable. The actors playing the high school age characters are all really incredible for their ages, but the stand out performances in this show come overwhelmingly from the adult characters. Despite being closer in age to the children than the adults, I found myself sitting through the scenes with the high school students waiting for the adults to come back. It makes logical sense that a lifetime in the business provides vital experience, insight, and skills that a young performer doesn’t have yet. These young performers are astounding for their age, but outshined by the experienced adults, particularly Tony award winning actresses Victoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan.

I did not attend this performance on a press pass.