REVIEW: Birthday at Tiffany’s

by Sea Sombar | January 13, 2026

Recently, I was given the opportunity to see Birthday at Tiffany’s for the New Hazlett Theater’s 13th CSA (Community Supported Art) Season. This is that experience…

The play is aptly described as: “A middle-class couple will do anything to keep their 7-year-old’s birthday on track—even if it means playing nice with the impossible.” Laughter is what makes us human. People have expressed joy, uncomfortability, unbridled emotion through laughing since the first stories were passed down around fires. There is a true empathetic nature to it, the purest reaction to human nature. I was overcome with this the whole time watching Birthday at Tiffany’s. The people around me were as well. We were all truly captivated during the hour long play, brought into the world of the characters. Their world was ours, for that little moment of time.

Walking into the theater space offers my first dip into the play. Often the first impression makes or breaks an experience, but in a split second I felt transported in time to 1980s Homewood where this show takes place. The set is uniquely dressed in period accurate furniture, wallpaper, party decorations, and a television. The pre-show music left room for audience chatter and community building which highlights the importance of family laid out in the play. The audience must become a family to create a true one on stage. There was so much excitement and engagement I have not felt often when watching a play.

Characters drive any story and this play doesn’t stride away from that. Everything is changed and impacted by how the characters interact with each other and the events that unfold, like any story should. In conversation with the writer, there was something that struck me. The basis for the story was simple: a black girl’s birthday goes awry when friends from her predominantly white school fail to show up. That concept was the foundation for something much deeper, with character dynamics, emotion, and laughter. The girl’s two parents and grandfather are the main characters. Notably leaving Tiffany out of most of the play except for a prerecorded voice off stage. I loved the idea of not showing her, it leaves space for us to think about what she could possibly be feeling. At points the emotional impact did fall short though and I wish the voice was live, which would leave room for more dynamics. But overall the performances were excellent.

Within the comedic elements of the play, there is layered social commentary, particularly around the pressures faced by black middle class families in the 1980s. Mils “M.J.”James plays Pops, Tiffany’s grandfather, who is a cynical man, hardened by a life of struggle held up by systemic racism. He believes the white kids won’t come to his granddaughter’s party and that the family should have a deeper conversation with Tiffany about how her race will affect her life. M.J. James brings a lot of heart and depth into Pop’s character, he brings wit and humor in contrast to the other characters’ demeanors. Tanika Harris plays Elaine Myers, Tiffany’s mother, who is a hopeful woman, believing that Tiffany’s friends from school would come, but she is easily broken down as the families keep saying that they actually can’t come. Tanika Harris brings a star studded performance with every line she brings the audience to the edge of their seats, we follow her throughout the entire play.  Richard McBride plays Ed Myers, Tiffany’s father is trying to recreate his own childhood for Tiffany, trying to make the party the best it can, but failing to adapt at times when pressure hits. Richard McBride effortlessly transitions from beat to beat, his physicality shifting to portray more than just his lines. Mike Zolovich and Jenny Malarkey also bring their own through their short time on stage, heightening already high performances. And what of Tiffany? She is seemingly oblivious, but through context, we sense she may have been listening the whole time, soaking up the adults’ banter. She may already know how race affects her life. The grown-ups desperately try to control a situation, and a narrative, leaving Tiffany to simply live out their choices.

Overall this play leaves some to think about, and a lot to laugh about. A package that made quite an enjoyable night. I hope this story is passed on, performed on stages, just like the first stories were performed around fires.