Transgression
Written by Terry Curtis Fox; Directed by Avra Fox-Lerner
HERE Arts | 145 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013
July 10th - August 2nd
Photos by Matt Liebergall.
Transgression is an exciting new play that is an absolute must see.
The play is set in the pre-Me Too New York, and New York of the 1970s. This window is a very specific one. In the 70s, future kings of rock and roll who would collect multiple honors including those from the Kennedy Center ran around LA with 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 year olds girls. Not “young women”, but girls. Almost Famous would call them the “Band-Aids” Roman Polanski would admit to having sex with a 13 year old in 1977, but would continue to be a sought after director until the Academy dumped him in 2019. He had 14 Academy Awards nominations in that window of time. Likewise, Manhattan (1979), Woody Allen’s Academy nominated BAFTA winning film where he plays a 42 year old twice divorced man dating a 17 year old high school student. Allen has had 23 Academy Award nominations and 5 wins since the court case regarding sexually assaulting his adopted daughter and since announcing his relationship with his 22 year old step-daughter.
That’s why when we discover Norman Lewis, renowned photographer, has just slept with a 15 year old in 1970 it’s the younger audience members who let out audible shock. Back in 2010, Norman’s wife Gina is cleaning out his studio after his death and has just found a portfolio with the most striking, perhaps best work ever. The audience lives through Gina as she asks all the questions we’re thinking. But through all the twists and turns of this riveting script, the question hardest to answer: can we separate art from the man that creates it?
Janes Ives takes us on the wild roller coaster ride her life has become since the discovery of her husband’s masterwork after his death. The discovery changes how she looks at marriage and her reality is forever changed. 1970s Norman is superbly embodied by James Jelkin. We have to both love him and be disgusted by him, and Jelkin walks the fine line between desire and disgust. Ivy Rose plays the worldly Greenwich Village kid turned unwilling muse. Her adamance about not being photographed paves the way for Susan Bennett, who plays Ivy’s older self, to reexamine whether this is high art or child pornography. Yuval Boim as the art curator and expert on Norman’s work is the perfect scene partner – which may be something you only notice as an actor or director – but certainly worth noting. As the outsider looking in, he will shape the legacy of the great artist.
Society has changed its views on what is and isn’t forgivable. Everyone knew about Woody and Roman, Jagger and Bowie, but Woody and Roman are out while we still turn a blind-eye on the sins of rockstars. Many of the Founding Fathers who fought for liberty were slave owners. And whether Jefferson’s relationship with his dead wife’s half-sister was consensual will never be known. But we do we continue to celebrate the works of “great men” and ignore the elements we don’t care for? How much time does it take for misdeeds to become anecdotes on a wiki page?
Transgression is spectacular. Smart, funny, shocking, disturbing – intermission chatter was speculating about relationships and how much each character truly knew. People couldn’t wait for the second half to begin. New York City is full of good plays, but this one rises above the rest. I hope to never hear a bad word about the playwright, since I won’t be able to take back all the good things I’ve said about his work!
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Nicole Jesson.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on July 20, 2025. All rights reserved.