{"id":370806,"date":"2025-07-28T07:20:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=370806"},"modified":"2025-07-28T07:20:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T11:20:42","slug":"2025-district-fringe-review-the-hardest-words-to-say-by-che-navin-arrington-5-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2025\/07\/28\/2025-district-fringe-review-the-hardest-words-to-say-by-che-navin-arrington-5-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 District Fringe Review: &#8216;The Hardest Words to Say&#8217; by Ch\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington (5 stars)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-370256\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DCTA-BEST-OF-FRINGE-2025-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DCTA-BEST-OF-FRINGE-2025-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DCTA-BEST-OF-FRINGE-2025-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DCTA-BEST-OF-FRINGE-2025.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><span class=\"dropcap dropcap3\">C<\/span>h\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington\u00a0\u2014 a Black, gay, trans artist and writer born in DC \u2014 wrote <em>The Hardest Words to Say<\/em> in 2018 when they were a freshman in college. A one-time reading in the District Fringe festival proved it to be a deeply introspective and lyrically theatrical memory play whose imaginative and original storytelling absolutely warrants a full production.<\/p>\n<p>The main character, a bisexual Black college student named Oprah, tries by revisiting her past in the hope of healing to process trauma from sexual abuse that began when she was 12 (\u201cHow did I get so broken?\u201d \u201cHow did I become so alone?\u201d).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_370853\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-370853\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-370853\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hardest-Words-800x600-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hardest-Words-800x600-1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hardest-Words-800x600-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hardest-Words-800x600-1-460x345.jpg 460w, https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Hardest-Words-800x600-1-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-370853\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtesy of &#8216;The Hardest Words to Say&#8217;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Oprah (pointedly named after Oprah Winfrey, also a sexual abuse survivor) has two female friends from school, Will and Missy, both lesbian, with whom she tries to work out relationships that are by turns romantic and reminiscent of <em>Mean Girls.<\/em> There is also a Man in the cast who plays multiple male roles, including Oprah\u2019s therapist, various dating app guys, a brief hookup, and a predator.<\/p>\n<p>In a most promising stroke of dramaturgy, the character of Oprah is simultaneously portrayed by two female actors, named Heart and Mind.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>MIND:<\/strong> Why do you think one man has such power over us?<br \/>\n<strong>HEART:<\/strong> One man can ruin a lot of lives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The split within Oprah originates, Mind explains, in her experience of \u201cOne man. A predator. A beast. I became two people, so I could be more than one man\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the reading I attended, the actors appearing as Heart (Kayla Earl) and Mind (Cayla Hall), brought to the roles a touching vivacity and emotional translucence that hinted at how a full staging could clarify the dramatic impact of their connection and distinction.<\/p>\n<p>Arrington\u2019s dialog ranges from punchy to poignant, as when Mind responds to her therapist\u2019s recommendation that she knit.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>MIND:<\/strong> I\u2019m sorry. I don\u2019t understand how knitting will help me deal with my problems.<br \/>\n<strong>THERAPIST:<\/strong> It\u2019s said to be very therapeutic.<br \/>\n<strong>MIND:<\/strong> So far it feels stupid and pointless.<br \/>\n<strong>THERAPIST:<\/strong> Look, there are people who knit and people who don\u2019t. What do you do?<br \/>\n<strong>MIND:<\/strong> I unravel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Arrington\u2019s dialogue can also be sexually graphic, as when Oprah encounters a cartoonishly pro-sex woman next to whom she feels inferior.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>MIND:<\/strong> For some people, thinking about sex can be triggering.<br \/>\n<strong>HEART:<\/strong> For some people, thinking about sex can be uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Among the scenes in the play are some marvelously comic set pieces, as when Heart, having \u201csuccumbed to peer pressure and started internet dating,\u201d encounters a laughable succession of online guys whom she promptly swipes left or right.<\/p>\n<p>In another, Mind imagines that her friends Will and Missy stick up for her in a scene staged as an over-the-top telenovela.<\/p>\n<p>I was particularly impressed by how Arrington looks with a sharply satirical eye on the culpability of men, as in this exchange:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>MAN ONLINE:<\/strong> Ya know this whole feminist movement thing and sexual misconduct awareness, it&#8217;s great, but I think one thing that&#8217;s not being talked about is how a bunch of guys\u2014guys I hang out with and work with everyday\u2014who don&#8217;t do this kind of thing and whose lives aren&#8217;t going to be affected by everyone talking about these bad dudes all day long. I\u2019m sayin\u2019 that all this shit being covered in the news is the bad dudes.<br \/>\n<strong>HEART:<\/strong> The rapists, pedophiles, and sexual predators?<br \/>\n<strong>MAN ONLINE:<\/strong> Yeah those guys. Everyone talks about them, but no one talks about the good guys like me.<br \/>\n<strong>HEART:<\/strong> Do you want some pats on the back for doing nothing? \u2026 Men like you make it so much easier for \u201cbad dudes\u201d to thrive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Like a tenderly kept time capsule of one teenager\u2019s remembered pain, acuity, and passion, <em>The Hardest Words to Say <\/em>cries out to be openly heard.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-132974\" src=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/FIVE-STARS-82x1554.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"82\" height=\"15\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Hardest Words to Say<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Work-in-progress exploration of trauma and survival by Ch\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Date and Time: Saturday, July 26, 3:45p<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Venue: <a href=\"https:\/\/districtfringe.ssboxoffice.com\/venues\/phoenix-udc-lecture-hall-44a03\">Phoenix &#8211; UDC Lecture Hall (44A03)<\/a><br \/>\nTickets: $15<br \/>\nMore Info and Tickets: <a href=\"https:\/\/districtfringe.ssboxoffice.com\/events\/the-hardest-words-to-say\/\">The Hardest Words to Say<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Genre: <\/em><\/strong><em>Drama<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Directed by:\u00a0<\/strong>Ch\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington<br \/>\n<strong>Playwright:\u00a0<\/strong>Ch\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington<br \/>\n<strong>Performed by:\u00a0<\/strong>HEART &#8211; Kayla Earl (She\/they), MIND &#8211; Cayla Hall (She\/her), WILL &#8211; Ch\u00e9 Nav\u00efn Arrington (They\/he), MISSY &#8211; Mars Pyles (She\/her), ONE MAN &#8211; Daniel Young (He\/him), OPRAH\/STAGE DIRECTIONS &#8211; Kayla Holloway (She\/Her)<\/p>\n<p><strong>The complete 2025 District Fringe Festival <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">schedule<\/span> is online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.districtfringe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><br \/>\nThe 2025 District Fringe Festival <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">program<\/span> is online <a href=\"https:\/\/www.districtfringe.com\/program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This deeply introspective and imaginative memory play about healing from sexual trauma absolutely warrants a full production.   By JOHN STOLTENBERG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":372500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[519,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-370806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-2025-district-fringe-festival","8":"category-reviews"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v26.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2025 District Fringe Review: &#039;The Hardest Words to Say&#039; 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He writes both reviews and his Magic Time! column, which he named after that magical moment between life and art just before a show begins. In it, he explores how art makes sense of life\u2014and vice versa\u2014as he reflects on meanings that matter in the theater he sees. Decades ago, in college, John began writing, producing, directing, and acting in plays. He continued through grad school\u2014earning an M.F.A. in theater arts from Columbia University School of the Arts\u2014then lucked into a job as writer-in-residence and administrative director with the influential experimental theater company The Open Theatre, whose legendary artistic director was Joseph Chaikin. Meanwhile, his own plays were produced off-off-Broadway, and he won a New York State Arts Council grant to write plays. Then John\u2019s life changed course: He turned to writing nonfiction essays, articles, and books and had a distinguished career as a magazine editor. But he kept going to the theater, the art form that for him has always been the most transcendent and transporting and best illuminates the acts and ethics that connect us. He tweets at @JohnStoltenberg. Member, American Theatre Critics\/Journalists Association.","url":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/author\/john-stoltenberg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}