KEENA: UNBRANDED The Solo Experience

My overall impression

Keena is undoubtedly talented. She is a beautiful dancer and a passionate actor. That said, the material in the show felt like anecdotes strung together haphazardly. This lack attention to story or at least unifying theme of the piece left me feeling confused about why she was doing and saying what she was doing and saying (other than as a showcase). It really did a disservice to some of the more serious parts of the show. For example, (spoiler alert) she shared her obviously excruciating pain of losing a loved one, but as an audience it was the first we’d heard of this person. A little work with a dramaturg would have lifted this show from uneven and allowed the audience to go with her on a journey.