Thurgood
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
5 Stars
Thurgood is a portrait of civil rights lawyer and United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall written by George Stevens Jr. and performed by Michael Anthony Tatmon. Within minutes the theater seemed to fall away into history. Mr. Tatmon had taken us back with him and I felt like I was walking alongside Marshall through his life that was influential on an entire nation.
Tatmon does not play Marshall as a marble statue or a figure from a textbook. He plays him as a storyteller, warm and familiar, an old man settling in to tell you how it really happened. It is the difference between hearing history in a lecture hall and hearing it from your grandfather at the kitchen table and Tatmon chooses the kitchen table every time.
That intimacy is why the show’s 90 minutes never drag. Marshall’s life encompasses Jim Crow, the decades-long war against segregation, and his seat on the Supreme Court. Thurgood gives each chapter room to breathe.
Tatmon moves easily among the people of Marshall’s world,from his stern mentor Charles Hamilton Houston who taught him the law could be a weapon, to his courtroom rival John W. Davis.
Marshall shares his own experiences with discrimination before returning to the courtroom where he continues fighting against segregation. There is something powerful about the way he moves between these two sides of the story. His portrayal captures the emotional weight of experiencing discrimination firsthand while fighting against it, and you feel every emotion along the way.
I tend to focus on pieces of clothing an actor may throw on and off during the course of a production. In this case there are multiple occasions where Tatmon steps into the courtroom and throws on his suit jacket and during these moments in the courtroom I feel like there is a more indescribable power to his words.
Those scenes in the courtroom almost felt surreal, as if you were witnessing these historic moments unfold in real time. I think that was one of the presentation's greatest strengths; its ability to make the history feel personal.
Thurgood was one of those shows that really lingered in my mind long after it was over.
Thurgood
Starring: Michael Anthony Tatmon
Performed on: November 4, 2026
October 19 – November 22, 2026
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, in Manhattan
Reviewer: Hailey Fulmer
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