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The Arts Intel Report

Kimberly Akimbo

Nov 5 – Dec 26, 2021
336 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011, United States

Twenty years ago this month, the acclaimed playwright David Lindsay-Abaire earned one of his first major awards—a Kesselring Prize for Kimberly Akimbo. The play follows a teenage girl afflicted with progeria, a disease that ages her four-and-a-half times faster than the normal rate. At 16, she’s postmenopausal but has the maturity of a girl halfway through puberty. This isn’t helpful when dealing with a hypochondriac mother and an alcoholic father. The play enjoyed a second run in 2003, Off Broadway, and is now back as a musical. Lindsay-Abaire tackles the lyrics, the Tony-winning Jeanine Tesori writes the music, and Danny Mefford creates the choreography. —J.D.

Photo: Ahron R. Foster.