Media

Sold-Out Shows, Rave Reviews!

ONAJE sold out all five of our FringeNYC shows, the performances were riveting, and both audiences and critics gave great reviews:

You can also read an interview with producer Sue Conover Marinello, as well as a profile of playwright Robert Bowie, Jr.

Synopsis:

In The Grace of God & The Man Machine (formerly ONAJE), an eccentric hitchhiker is picked up by a headstrong cowboy and spirited waitress, only to discover they are all inextricably linked by the past. The Grace of God & The Man Machine is about buried secrets, redemption, and the long journey from racism to the seed of a hopeful future. Set in two worlds — against the backdrop of the burning city of Cambridge during Maryland’s race riots of 1967, and the American open road of the 1980s — The Grace of God & The Man Machine explores the fallout of racial violence, ultimately finding humanity, and hope.

About the Playwright:

Playwright and poet Robert Bowie, Jr. has had nine plays produced through The Baltimore Playwrights Festival (BFF). His political farce, Crash & Burn P.A., was the only submission selected by the Festival in 2016 for a full production at Baltimore’s Theatrical Mining Company. Bowie’s most-recent play, The Grace of God & The Man Machine (formerly ONAJE), was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center 2018 season. It premiered in October 2018 to sold-out audiences and critical acclaim at The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). Bowie is also Poet Laureate of The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA).

“ONAJE is a beautifully written, directed, and acted play that left me crying in the theatre by the end. It’s a call for change. It’s a reminder of the past. It’s a play about love and hate. In short, it’s theatre.”

— Christopher Peterson, OnstageBlog.com

“Best bet! The most dramatic, fleshed-out, near cinematic play I have seen at this year’s Fringe. ONAJE is a high-stakes story that shows the power of people standing up to racism.”

— Ed Malin, Theatre is Easy

“ONAJE is such an important piece of theatre. It tells a tragic story of riots, racism, and hate that, although it is set in both 1967 and 1980, is unfortunately still very relevant.”

— Christopher Peterson, OnstageBlog.com

“Bowie’s story belittles the “us versus them” mentality that pits Americans against each other and disgraces those that adhere to it… ONAJE questions how much has changed since the sixties, and what might it take to finally heal.”

— Opplaud.com

This is what change in the theatre is all about… forcing an audience to witness, through the eyes of the play, the trouble that exists in the world every day. ONAJE does it beautifully.”

— Christopher Peterson, OnstageBlog.com