Come and Knock Down My Door

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Come and Knock Down My Door is a new political-dramedy from playwright Alex Emanuel (Hallucy, TV: Succession), who also plays FBI agent John Johnson in the cast. The show takes place on January 7th, 2021, and follows James – played by (Kris Coleman (A Soldier’s Play, Crowns) – a middle-aged Black musician in New York City who learns that his roommate Pablo – played by Jared Ritter (Shelter in Place, Saturdays) – participated in the January 6th insurrection. James is an 80s punk at heart and his wife Mina – played by Lana Ayrapetyants (The Cherry Orchard, The Lady Peasant) – is a Russian immigrant of murky legal status. The central conflict of the play is thus whether or not James will tell the FBI what Pablo did — a decision that risks both endangering his wife’s residency in the US and betraying his own values.

The directing, from Philip Cruise (Fat Cat Killers, The Sex Writer), is adequate. Cruise also plays Clark, the father of Pablo’s girlfriend Samantha – who is played by Callie Fabac (Alexandria, The Sex Writer). Cruise’ directing rarely takes any big risks, but the blocking and set placement do a fine job of communicating how cramped the apartment setting is meant to feel. The (uncredited) window setpiece and the lighting cues (lighting designer Olivia Martin) skillfully create a lot of paranoia. James’ sense of panic and loss of control is well represented through the production, with him literally having no control over who enters and leaves the apartment for much of the play. The directing is competent – dutifully carrying out the vision of a deeply muddled script.

The script is overall quite uneven. To start, James is a very well-written character. He is consistent and grounded in reality, and his emotional journey is well thought out and wonderful to watch. The character, played by Kris Coleman is, ultimately, the heart of the play. Coleman’s performance is deeply nuanced, and it is a delight to watch him deftly portray a man who has to hold it together as best he can during a deeply stressful point in his life. Coleman channels James’ anger and compassion masterfully, and his performance is easily the best part of the play. His gradual buildups and comedowns from yelling to whispering are some of the best moments in the show. On the other hand, James’ wife Mina is never written to be anything more than tired comic relief. Her character does have real conflicts in the narrative, but they’re left entirely unexplored to make time for extended dream sequences about Guy Fawkes (Vincent Lamberti) that belabor their point incessantly.

 

The dream sequences – as well as the intermission – utterly break the very real tension of the first act, leaving the second act feeling somewhat frivolous. Twice, James dreams about legendary English revolutionary Guy Fawkes visiting him, and both scenes are excruciatingly long. Lamberti puts on a good show, giving the role his best silly accent and feigned-confusion-at-modern-technology, but that is simply not enough to sustain the length of the dream sequence scenes. The sequences technically connect to the larger themes of the play – fears of law enforcement and the (im)morality of snitching – but the play would have been far smoother if they were simply cut entirely.

The ending itself is even more deflating. There’s a deus ex machina twist, when Clark (Samantha’s father) shows up, reveals himself to also be an FBI agent, and simply announces to the protagonist that all his problems have been resolved offstage. Pablo is revealed to have been an FBI informant the whole time (something that’s not-so-subtly given away earlier in the play by the other FBI agent), Mina’s immigration status is magically fixed, James is not in any trouble whatsoever and is instead lauded. It’s painfully anticlimactic and leaves one wondering what exactly the point was meant to be in the first place. James is somehow completely unbothered by the revelation that he’s been living with an FBI informant for years. The FBI agents themselves are also pure authorial fantasy – both are steely-eyed hyper-competent liberal dad archetypes who James is utterly charmed by instantly. The end result is that James’ fears of law enforcement are unfounded, thus defanging most of his character’s drama and ending his emotional journey in the least satisfying way possible.

Pablo, the insurrectionist roommate, is sometimes an interesting character. Jared Ritter’s performance has its moments, but he often slips into a Jesse Pinkman impression – especially during the scenes with his girlfriend Samantha. Samantha as a character serves no purpose in the narrative other than to set up a later plot twist involving a different character, and one wonders if the play would not have been better had her character been cut and the play focused entirely on the conflict between James, Mina, and Pablo. The three of them sharing a cramped apartment during lockdown amidst all of this chaos is a very compelling premise – yet for some reason the play insists on abandoning it regularly to focus on far less interesting subjects.

Come and Knock Down My Door is a fascinating idea for a play that is not as well-executed as it needed to be to work. A middle-aged punk and his Russian wife learn that their roommate participated in the January 6th insurrection and are faced with a dilemma. This is an excellent premise, but one gets the sense that the end result is more a draft than a completed work. It is a very unique and creative play, but it’s unfortunately missing the polishing it would need to truly shine.

Come and Knock Down My Door (through May 30, 2026)

Thin Duke Productions in association with the Gene Frankel Theatre and Starna Productions

Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.//our.show/knowdoormydoor

Running time: 120 minutes including one intermission