Huck & Holden

by Rajiv Joseph

Full Length, Comedy \ 3m, 2f \ Unit set \ Receiving rave reviews for both its New York and Los Angeles productions, Rajiv Joseph’s Huck & Holden tells the story of Navin, an Indian college student who’s fresh off the boat and trying to remain focused on his studies while the temptations of America and college life start beating down his door. When Navin falls for Michelle, a young African-American woman, he finds that his perceptions of the world begin to expand— and crumble. Called “…a comingof-age story with comedy, pathos, and a distinct emotional core,” by offoffline.com, Huck & Holden is a romantic comedy that wrestles with cultural stereotypes, racism, The Kama Sutra, The Catcher in the Rye, and how losing our innocence doesn’t always make us wiser. \ “Joseph’s writing has the smarts and sophistication to rip away stereotypes while revealing his characters’ raw humanity. With simple storytelling, he deftly constructs Navin’s coming-of-age story with comedy, pathos, and a distinct emotional core. This is theater at its finest, and theater that maters…. Everything in this highly polished production cries out for mention, but at the heart of it all is Joseph’s taut, masterful script.” —offoffonline.com

Genres: Plays, Drama

71 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Joseph's first play doesn't have the depth or skill of some of his later work, but is still an enjoyable cross-culture comedy.

[Clifton]

I wanted to read Joseph's FIRST play (as opposed to the works that won him awards and acclaim). Huck and Holden's a fairly simple cross cultural romance, but Joseph brings enough imagination, humor and fearlessness to make it stand out. A little more uneven than his other plays, obviously- especially half way through - but the characters make this story much richer than it would be in someone else's hands.