The Monsters

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When Lil shows up after Big’s mixed martial arts bout, he doesn’t recognize her. That is because this half-brother and sister sharing the same father have not seen each other in 16 years. But her memories remind him of what he has been running away from and they reconnect after all these years. She is becoming the alcoholic that he was when they last met and he gets her to stop drinking. When he discovers that she has been following his career for years, this eventually leads to his training her to join in MMA bouts. This brings them first closer together and then apart yet again. As his career comes to an end, hers takes off. She will make many of the mistakes he may have made and she must learn the hard way.

Although he has been a champion, he is not famous as he has not pursed fame or fortune. He uses the moniker “The Monster” and has always felt like one since his youth when he was big from childhood and frightened the other kids. He knows that big Black men have often been in this situation. Their abusive father and their absent alcoholic mothers gave them a childhood that they both have been trying to forget and it has kept them from making permanent relationships. Although it is not stated except for some named addresses, the play begins in Philadelphia.

Written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu, author of The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic Theater Company) and Good Grief (Vineyard Theatre), The Monsters is a tour de force for two actors who have the chops for this very physical outing both emotionally and literally and luckily Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan have what it takes. Aided by the choreography of Rickey Tripp, the fight direction of Gerry Rodriguez, and the work of MMA consultant Sijara Eubanks, the realistic fights mainly pantomimed with only one participant (except for Lil’s training sessions which include Big) make us believe we are seeing two people fighting.

Meeting again when Lil is almost 30 and Big is almost 40, the two siblings have a lot to catch up on. He doesn’t approve of the neighborhood she lives in and she doesn’t want to get too close in case he disappears from her life again. When they eventually bond, they move in together, but have a falling out when she wants to take on professional bouts before she is ready. He sends her to training in Las Vegas for six weeks and she disappears for three months. The bruises aren’t all physical; they have to work through the emotional scars like why he abandoned her for 16 years and why she didn’t get in contact sooner.

Their relationship evolves to that of careful coach and eager trainee. We watch Lil’s training from novice fighter to professional MMA champion. We watch as they warm up with jump rope routines, push-ups, burpees, and sparring with punching bag and each other. We watch as Lil acquires all the moves that will make her a professional and we see Mizzelle seem to grow before our eyes. On the other hand, we watch as Onaodowan as the older Big demonstrates more pain after each bout as he gets older and nears retirement. They do not seem like they are acting but living these roles under our gaze. Eventually Lil understands what Big has been going through and tries to convince him to let go of his bitterness and disappointment.

Aside from the age difference, Mizzelle and Onaodowan give contrasting performances. She is cheerful, animated, joking, ironic and optimistic. His massive physique working in his favor, he is in personality sedate, dignified, cool, imperturbable, unruffled. It is as though he has seen everything and expects little while there is no bounds to her ambition or her enthusiasm. At first she fights him all the way in her training; eventually they come to understand each other when she achieves his state of excellence.

Andrew Boyce’s unit setting is a gym or arena taped off with the eight-sided shape used by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s premier professional mixed martial arts organization.) This is where the brother and sister usually meet except for the flashbacks to their childhood home. Cha See’s varied lighting often seen coming through the grimy gym or locker room windows adds to the atmosphere, both poetic and realistic. Mikaal Sulaiman’s original music and sound design heightens the tension as the play builds to its climax.

Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters becomes more involving as it goes along and we learn more about Lil and Big. We come to care for them and worry about the risks they run. Little by little they fill in gaps in their background. Time passes, a month, six weeks, six years, and we are left to fill in the missing block of time. You will not soon forget Aigner Mizzelle’s Lil or Okieriete Onaodowan’s Big or their struggle to overcome their abusive childhood. Not only are these bravura performances but the writing creates two complete lives by it reaches its end.

The Monsters (extended through March 22, 2026)

Manhattan Theatre Club

New York City Center Stage II, 131 W. 55^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-581-1212 or visit http://www.manhattantheatreclub.com

Running time: one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission