New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu



 

REVIEW: "Pipeline" at Mile Square Theatre


By Adam F. Cohen

originally published: 09/13/2019


Parenting is a puzzle.  The intention is do well by your child by all means.  And those intentions start with a firm foundation of communication. Dominique Morisseau's play Pipeline explores the repercussions of parenting, race, education, marriage, and communication.  The play – running at Hoboken’s Mile Square Theatre– is a gripping drama.

The play’s title refers to the “school-to-prison pipeline” that all too easily traps the underprivileged, especially people of color, and funnels them directly into penal institutions. But these characters are poised, faulty and intelligent enough to prove the odds wrong.  It’s the rest of the world that proves challenging.

Morisseau’s play is enlivened by fertile, intelligent performances by a strong cast and tense direction by Kevin R. Free.  It’s grounded by prophetic references to Gwendolyn Brooks’ poetry and the novel Native Son by Richard Wright.  Pipeline is a drama about people—strong, troubled, complex, sometimes heartbreaking people—who find themselves in nerve-jangling situations. Yes, the school background is vital here, but it’s the human beings who rivet us to our seats for 95 absorbing, suspenseful minutes—no intermission.

Omari (Jarvis Tomdio) is a young African American high school student.  He’s articulate, smart and scared. But he’s a teenager filled with quiet rage at the world and his parents.  Unfortunately, his physical outburst on a teacher could mean ouster from his private school – especially as the incident has been preserved on other student’s phones.  Tomdio offers a graceful, gripping performance – like a caged animal, stalking the territory, ready to strike.

He’s got the support of a loving girlfriend Jasmine (Jessica Darrow) and that of his public school English teacher mother Nya (Malikha Mallette).  Mallette and Tomdio deliver moving performances that emphasizes the tensions, awkwardness and pure intentions between mother and child.  Darrow is fierce and wise beyond her years as Jasmine delivering truths in zippy statements like “Sometimes people push you too far, make you feel like an animal from another jungle.” 




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



Nya is supported by her fellow teacher Laurie (Annie McAdams) who’s perilously close to violence and a breakdown of her own. McAdams provides a fiercely funny, passionate performance.  As does Chadwick Antonio Rawlings as Dun – the school security guard who carries a torch for Nya. 

The play is a chess game, and a fascinating one at that.  It ends on a hopeful note.  But given the issues and possibilities presented hope is a weak strategy.  Ultimately though being young, tenacious and in love doesn’t quite quell the fear and anger in these characters.  And this is where “Pipeline” elevates and feels most real.  The language of these characters shifts effortlessly between the world’s they occupy – private school and private life, check book parenting and daily life, wisdom and rage, love and youth, intention and mistakes.  The actors deliver smashing performances gripping the shadows and fine lines of their worlds and relationships.

As ever, the Mile Square Theater production is aided by strong technical elements.  Joey Moro’s projection design serves the classroom blackboard and cell-phone recollections of violence.  Jason Flamos’ lighting shifts from institutional flourscents to warm realism.  And Matthew J. Fick’s realistic set captures the steadily chipped cinder block reality of many urban public schools.

Omari compares Jasmine to “Metamorphic rocks. They change in form. Made from heat and pressure. That’s what makes ‘em so rare and interesting. “  An apt description of all the characters in “Pipeline” – and of the play itself.

Pipeline is running now through October 6 at Mile Square Theatre, 1408 Clinton Street, Hoboken, NJ . Tickets and more information at milesquaretheatre.org

PHOTOS BY DAVID WHITE STUDIO




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info





FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Vivid

Vivid Summer Solos: Where is Everybody?

Wednesday, July 09, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

The

The MAC players at the Middletown Arts Center present "Hairspray"

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

The

The Wizard of Oz

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre

Click here for full event listing

 

More events

Event Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages




 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Asbury

Asbury Park to Host 1st Annual ACT OUT, DIVA! New Play Festival

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Bailey Dumlao and Matthew Yee have announced the first annual ACT OUT, DIVA! New Play Festival featuring five new plays presented as readings from July 17-20, 2025. Matthew Yee is one of the featured playwrights and Bailey Dumlao directs all five pieces.



Cape

Cape May Stage presents "Sexy Laundry"

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Cape May Stage presents Sexy Laundry by Michele Riml from July 16 through August 24, 2025. The relatable storyline follows Alice and Henry, a long-married couple, attempting to reignite the spark in their relationship by escaping to a trendy hotel with a copy of the book Sex for Dummies in hand.



The

The Ritz Theatre Company presents "The Wizard of Oz"

(HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ) -- The Ritz Theatre Company presents The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum weekends from July 11-27, 2025. Based upon the Classic Motion Picture, it was adapted by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company and features Music & Lyrics by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg.



PHOTOS

PHOTOS from "Hairspray" at Middletown Arts Center

(MIDDLETOWN, NJ) -- The MAC Players at the Middletown Arts Center present the unstoppably joyous musical, Hairspray, over two weekends, July 11–20, 2025. Directed by Victoria Keiser, with musical direction by Lauryn Boyle and choreography by Samantha Amaral, the award-winning Broadway musical promises a fun-filled evening of laughter, energy and unforgettable dance numbers. Fawn Nocera Photography was on hand to take photos.



Renowned

Renowned West End Actor, Rohan Tickell, to Star in "Every Brilliant Thing" at East Lynne Theater Company

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Acclaimed London-based actor Rohan Tickell is bringing his extraordinary talent to Cape May's award-winning, Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company, to star in Duncan Macmillan's globally celebrated play Every Brilliant Thing, running July 31 to August 30, 2025 at the new Clemans Theater for the Arts.