By Alix Cohen

Do NOT be put off by title or fight images. There’s nothing gratuitously violent in playwright Ngozi Anyanw’s chronicle of sibling trauma, abandonment and reconciliation. Borne on raw, idiomatic, often rhythmic language, framed by a sport with which many are unfamiliar, it nonetheless remains accessible and extremely affecting. The production is outstanding.

Character names, Big (Okieriete Onaodowan) and Lil (Aigner Mizzelle) were acquired by the step- siblings in a mutually devoted childhood.

We watch Big’s (professional name, Monster) mixed martial arts match with an invisible opponent. It’s gloriously choreographed and brutal. He wins. The crowd roars.


There’s no entourage, no manager in the dressing room to pat him on the back. We can practically see the athlete working at calming down. “Tough game champ!” comments Lil from a doorway. She startles him. It’s clear by the young woman’s assessment that she knows fighting. She also knows him.

Big and Lil are step-siblings, raised together in an unstable, low income, alcoholic home. Sixteen years ago, he left without explanation. At 40, Big is ten years older, a muscled winner in his regional class, but not on the world stage. Lil has enthusiastically been keeping track of his fights. She’s desperate to reconnect. Big is cold, suspicious- what does she want?

We flash back to their childhood. Lil’s a 6 year old energizer bunny. Big is protective. Language is poignant. They’re united.

With stop/start ambivalence, he successively offers Lil a ride to her tenement apartment, a couch at his digs, and brotherly advice about not giving away food (to him.) Big’s moral compass is obvious. Finally sober and having caught her inebriated on the job, his unilateral rule: no coming home drunk.

Lil is 9. The siblings mock fight. Even at that age, she has moves. Big is taking a Civil Service job for the second time. He fails again.

Three months pass. She’s made herself useful, managing his equipment and schedules. In exchange, Big lets her train with him. It’s exhausting to watch. Both actors are in powerful shape. How does he KNOW when he’ll win, Lil asks. “The look that say he ain’t hungry. Not like me. He ain’t starving.” Pristine use of language is particular to history and environment. Torment vomits boldness.

Big chides Lil for being “reckless” instead of disciplined. She’s ambitious, defiant, and increasingly cocky, but steadily improves. They restructure a common bond in two otherwise solitary, defended lives. Each has his/her own vulnerability. Big’s is the harder crust.

“Monsters get cuts/They get bruises/They ignore their wounds/For the bruises are badges/The blood, proof of life…”


As his prowess recedes, Big spends more and more time training Lil. When she has an opportunity elsewhere, he supports it despite almost whiny resistance. She returns with further enhanced ego. They lock horns about when she’ll be ready for the big time. It takes more years apart before things resolve- and then turn around.

There are niggling gaps: Why did Big abandon his beloved little sister for 16 years? Why didn’t he communicate? What compels her to find him now? None of this keeps audience from being mezmerized, but…

Women’s participation in MMA emerged in the 1990s. In 2012, The Ultimate Fighting Championship stepped in to regulate. Women now constitute approximately 20% of professional mixed martial arts fighters.


As Director, playwright Anyanwu deftly interweaves revealed emotion with trenchant physicality. Pacing is superb. The siblings show signs of age change without appearing stagey.

Actors Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan are superbly matched. Her sly, comic ability and his seething gravitas create distinctive characters, yet sustain indelible signs of joint background. Chemistry- the push pull of vulnerability- is beautifully played.

Choreography (Rickey Tripp) is wincingly vivid both in terms of training and fighting an unseen opponent, the latter a feat. Contribution by Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Consultant Sijara Eubanks is notable.

The weathered gym designed by Andrew Boyce features an eight-sided octagon fighting area that resembles the cage trademarked by the UFC. Cha See (Lighting) and Mikaal Sulaiman (Original Music & Sound) symbiotically change scenes and atmosphere without a single shift in Set. Mika Eubanks’ Costumes fit character, wear and economics.

Photos by Charles Erickson

Manhattan Theatre Club presents
The Monsters
Written and Directed by Ngozi Anyanwu
City Center Stage II 131 West 55th Street
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2025-26-season/the-monsters/
Extended through 3/22/26