The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, is currently on Broadway for ten weeks only after a sold-out run at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, is most famous for A Raisin in the Sun, but this show is just as poignant, smart, and modern. The play follows Sidney Brustein (Isaac), his wife Iris (Brosnahan), and their diverse group of both family and friends as they struggle to make their progressive dreams a reality in 1960s New York City. This revival is the first time in over 50 years that the play has been produced for a major stage, but it is well worth the decades-long wait.
Brustein is a man that feels so familiar, yet modern in his motivations. He has much to say about every injustice and cause in the world, so much so that he silences any opposing viewpoint in the room, but with little follow-through of actual action. Criticism is something he reserves for everyone but himself. Isaac plays him with a romantic charisma and charm that he is so well-known for, but can also humanize and break him down as the story progresses. Iris moves through the story as an ambitious, slightly erratic, but conflicted woman who is struggling with her identity. Over the course of the show, she realizes how deep her unhappiness really festers and the discontentment she has in her life. Brosnahan is perfectly cast in this role, as long, complicated dialogue is very familiar to her work in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. However similar, Iris explores a wider range of emotions compared to playing Miriam Maisel. This duo’s chemistry is palpable, and keeps the audience hanging onto every single word.
Even though the play centers around the Brustein couple and their lives and motivations, the entire cast must be recognized for their performances. Most notably, Gus Birney as Gloria (in her Broadway debut!), Julian De Niro as Alton, and Miriam Silverman as Mavis. Each of these characters have specific highlighted moments in the sh0w with Sidney Brustein that make everything come full circle. With Mavis, Iris’ older sister, he must confront his biases toward her conservative, higher-class existence once she reveals the secrets of her private life to him. Similar revelations happen with Alton, a young white-passing black man who in Act II, schools Brustein in his ignorance towards an intersectional existence.
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window is truly a masterclass in the concept of intersectionality and performative activism. Truly a feat, seeing as Hansberry published the work multiple decades before the term was even coined, let alone studied. It’s no wonder how controversial it was during its initial release in 1964. This production makes the material feel more modern and important than ever, and it’s a must-watch on Broadway this season.