Ironbound

by Martyna Majok

Genres: Plays, Drama

62 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2016

Reviews

[Aaron Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good. It has a great lead role for an actress, and it moves along with real force.
For me, though, there's really not much to this. It's the kind of thing regional theatres really like, but it doesn't really use the theatrical form in interesting ways, and it doesn't push its audience.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Majok's current NY hit 'Cost of Living' impelled me to seek out her first major success, a character study of a poor working class Polish woman. Although there is nothing much new or innovative here, other than the focus on someone not often seen on American stages, the play is full of warmth, heart and humor, and in Darja, Majok has created a truly memorable character.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the play and really related to it a lot as an Eastern European Immigrant. Darja is a powerful yet very realistic character.

[Brooks Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Majok's ability to make Darja's accent and way of speaking jump off the page amazed me while reading Ironbound. The mix of phonetic spelling (ex: "it's" instead of "is") and ruptured grammar is made most impactful by the consistency with which it is employed. I also found the character of Vic very moving and delightfully surprising. I definitely did not understand him when I first encountered him and am still not sure I completely understand him. I also found that some of the spaces left purposefully blank in his character were incorrectly filled by my assumptions and had to be corrected by later moments in the text. I do not know how much of that was purposeful and how much was just the nature of reading it for the first time, but it certainly prompted me to consider why I made the assumptions I did

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ironbound is a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, but it's also an appropriate metaphorical title for this play about a Polish immigrant woman struggling to make the best of a bad set of options. Martyna Majok dramatizes pivotal moments in the life of Darja over the course of more than 20 years, creating a bravura role for an actress in the process. Although the title of the play makes it sound very grim, it has moments of humor and tenderness, and the three male roles reveal unexpected depths. Admittedly, some plot developments at the end failed to convince me: the main difficulty with this kind of character-study, slice-of-life play is wrapping it up in a satisfying way, and I'm not sure Ironbound pulls it off. Still, this is an absorbing and heartfelt drama about the crumbling American dream and the choices Darja makes to cling to it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Majok writes sincerely and with apt pathos; though this didn't feel as dynamic as Cost of Living, it's of a different structural, centered on one character that never leaves the stage but hopscotches temporally.

Funny and sad, easy to appreciate for its crippled-romance working heartbreak into every beat: a myth out of both failed American economy, arrogance in the character's tenacity, and forgiveness amidst capitalist realism ruin.

[emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could see every moment so clearly, from the steps of the factory in 1992, to looking up at the moon fifteen years later: Majok perfectly captured both the aching love and pain of living alone in life’s ring. I would love to design a set for this play, and work deep into the night on the lighting. What a world, and what a blessing Majok is in this life. The human condition has never felt so aptly captured as it is within her pages.

[zz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not this kind of person what sits and thinks Why whole the time. He it's my son. He can do every horrible thing to me and I will look to him and say This is Mine. This is what I have in whole this world what's mine. You have your love and you give to everybody. This world it have million people like me, millions womens. But is only one me for him. He can’t to throw this away.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good play, insightful about decisions and their consequences, living life and being effected over time. When we make a choice, the long term effects of that choice aren't always clear. Great depiction of this.

[sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

1st of majok's plays i found amongst her other works in the drama book shop. love how well she is able to bring to life immigrant stories that humanizes them in a way that feel still grounded and relatable.

[Nick K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this play. I was deeply affected by it. The author created a character who grieved and fought at all angles. The play is a slice of American life and is important.

[Ricki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a very hard time following this with the dialect and the timeline jumping.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spare character study in the best way. There's a whole other story told between ellipses.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cost of Living is better but still a solid play

[Maggie Weller]

“What’s most important in this life it’s this thing you have what no one can take from you.”
“I can’t think what’s something can’t someone take.”

[Seth Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one does it like Majok

[domi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowww love this

[Ethan Washington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play has such a well established aesthetic. It really jumps off the page.

[Luke Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great play! I want to see some of her newer stuff.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this play- an interesting story about immigrants and the stark contrast between the ideals of America and what America truly holds for immigrants these days, as well as the cycle of poverty and how it traps immigrants. I definitely recommend it (especially to theaters looking for low budget, high impact shows)