Press Quotes
“While she putters around putting Barbie paraphernalia into boxes, our hostess neatly ties together the personal and the political, yoking her own history to the mess of current global politics and a loss of faith in the American ideal. Quirky and informative.” —Christopher Isherwood, The New York Times
“As the actress telling Kramer’s story packs up the Barbie artifacts of a Baby Boomer youth, the playwright explores both childhood fantasy and grown-up loss, as well as offering a step-by-step theory of why so many in the Arab world have come to hate the United States … it is, bottom line, a moving and provocative piece.” —Christine Dolan, Miami Herald
“Recounting her quest for the moment our way of life began unraveling, playwright Sherry Kramer’s remarkable monologue moves between 1963 and now, between Tehran and Springfield, MO, between radicalized mullahs and vintage Barbies, to unearth truths about America’s pursuit of Middle Eastern oil and her personal history, before arriving at her mother’s grave and the intersection of geopolitical interests and individual responsibility. As timely as it was revealing and as witty as wise.” —Robert Faires, The Austin Chronicle
“In her incisive one-woman, autobiographical play. Playwright Sherry Kramer recalls coming of age, the death of a beloved parent, Judaism, the Middle East crisis and a concise history of the durable Barbie doll … Making Barbie a pivotal character in her narrative, playwright Kramer writes with a fluid hand that balances grief, conflict and the innocence of youth.” —Robert Daniels, Variety