Blood of the Lamb by Arlene Hutton

Starring Meredith Garretson and Kelly McAndrew

Dramaturg: Christa Scott-Reed

Scenic Design by Andrew Boyce

Costume Design by Sarita Fellows

Lighting Design by Amith Chandrashaker

Sound Design by Bailey Trierweiler

Production Stage Manager: Hethyr Red

All photos taken by Daniel Rader @danielraderphoto for Occasional Drawl’s 2024 production at 59E59

PRESS:

“Blood of the Lamb is now being performed at 59E59 Theaters through October 20th. This excellent two-hander is superbly written by Arlene Hutton and expertly directed by Margot Bordelon. The time is now to see this show that shines a light on a hot-button political issue.”

     -      Marina Kennedy, Broadway World

“I sat on the edge of my seat astonished at the depth of the detailed emotions of both women and at the simplicity of the staging – the precise movement of a table conjures such complex underlying meanings. Margot Bordelon’s directing is structured minimalism that enhances the piece allowing the words and emotions to take center stage. I cannot say enough about this extraordinary piece of theater. I encourage you to go and see it with a friend. Take someone that you can sit with after and open up the story further for yourselves and what it means for our country.”

     -      Holli Harms, Front Row Center 

“The acting, directing, and production elements are stellar. Margot Bordelon’s seamless direction adds tension and brings together authentic sets (Andrew Boyce), costumes (Sarita Fellows), and lighting (Amith Chandrashaker). Garretson gives an emotional performance, taking the audience through grief, anger, and confusion.” 

     -      Rachel Graham, TheaterMania

“Will Nessa be able to veer Val away from her responsibilities as a lawyer and her personal conservative and faith-based beliefs and connect with her woman-to-woman? It is a mark of the playwright's smart writing, the balanced performances of Kelly McAndrew and Meredith Garretson, and Margot Bordelon’s tautly managed direction that the answer to this question remains up in the air until the very last moments of this unsettling work whose Kafkaesque situation seems frightfully plausible.”

     -      Howard Miller, Talkin’ Broadway

“Uptown, playwright Arlene Hutton and director Margot Bordelon are examining the ancient question of a mother’s agency — rather, a woman’s agency — from a different, agonizingly contemporary angle. Blood of the Lamb is a compact howl of a play, born of the death of Roe.The scenario it depicts, says Bordelon in her director’s note, “began as a work of speculative fiction, but [grows] closer to realism with each passing day.

There’s a conscious activism at work in Blood of the Lamb, an entreaty that we all listen —for just a moment, and in a moment where opinions are guarded like castles under siege —to something that dares to aspire to change minds.” 

     -      Sarah Holdren, Vulture

“Playwright Hutton and director Margot Bordelon keep the pressure up throughout the 80-minute discussion, greatly abetted by the performers. Garretson is exceptional as the traveler, expressing a relatively calm and level-headed demeanor as she begins to realize the state-mandated trap within which she has been caged and only gradually expresses the desperation of her situation.”

     -      Steven Suskin, New York Stage Review