Written by Jen Diamond | Directed by Lily Kanter Riopelle
Presented at A.R.T./New York Theatre’s Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre | 502 W 53rd St
October 26 – November 14, 2026
Photo credit by Geve Penn
Arriving at The Morbs felt like walking into a real theater house rather than a small studio space. The lobby had a friendly, professional receptionist and a photo station where you could snap pictures before heading in. They were serving light refreshments too. I got there early, so I had time to settle in and take in the space before the lights went down, and I could tell a lot of thought had gone into the set.
But there is more to The Morbs than a well put together lobby.
Once the play started, it went really well. The snow cabin in New Hampshire came together through sound effects and costuming, with heavy coats that sold the cold the second the characters walked onstage. The lighting did a lot of the emotional work too, shifting between warm tones and harsher reds to set the mood, whether the scene called for something funny or something that leaned a little scary.
The play follows Tatum (Emma Kikue), Trish (Rachel Ravel), and Wendy (Alexandra Templer), three former sorority sisters forced back together after five years apart. Jennifer Regan plays Harriet, and she played that role so well.
All of the actors did phenomenally, especially early on. The friends had a dynamic that really captured what it’s like reconnecting after college, when everyone has gone their separate ways, started families or careers, and it’s suddenly hard to pick up where you left off. The play leaned into how difficult that reconnection can be, and how forgiveness has to be part of any real friendship. No friendship is perfect, and that idea came up again and again.
One of my favorite moments, without spoiling anything, was when one of the friends hit another during an argument and had to ask for forgiveness afterward. There was a lot of foreshadowing built into that scene, along with some genuinely funny jokes. The play also leaned hard into capturing the chaos of college: the women played drinking games and truth or dare, at one point daring each other into something ridiculous enough that the audience’s reaction was somewhere between shocked and amused. As a college student myself, I felt like they nailed that energy completely.
What struck me most was the sisterhood running through the whole show, the gossip and old inside jokes that came back the second the three of them were in a room together. I also noticed that none of the actors ever broke to look at the audience. They stayed completely locked into the world of the play, which gave the whole thing an intense, almost private feeling.
The acting itself was spot on. Ninety minutes with no intermission is a hard thing to sustain, and every one of them stayed fully present the entire time. Toward the end, one of the actors cried during a dramatic reveal I won’t spoil, and watching an actor genuinely get there onstage never stops being impressive.
I’d recommend The Morbs, especially with Halloween season being right around the corner. It’s not the kind of thriller that’s going to leave you terrified; it’s funnier than it is scary, with just a few genuinely tense moments. If you’re looking for a fun night out in the city and a story that captures what it’s like being young, in college, and reconnecting with old friends, this one is worth seeing.
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Nickson Frederick.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on October 31, 2026. All rights reserved.
