‘Queens’: Immigrant women, enduring dreams

‘QUEENS’: (Left to right) Marin Ireland, Nadine Malouf, Nicole Villamil & Brooke Bloom. Photo: Valerie Terranova.

QUEENS
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Trip Cullman
Through December 7, 2025
Manhattan Theatre Club
NY City Center Stage I
131 West 55th Street
https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/

By Scott Harrah

Martyna Majok’s Queens has returned Off-Broadway in a reworked, deeply moving production directed by Trip Cullman. Set in an illegal basement apartment in Queens, the play explores the intersecting lives of immigrant women from across the globe.  These women come from Poland, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and beyond. All the women are struggling to survive in America while reckoning with the past they left behind.

The story

Queens spans from 2001 to 2017 and follows a group of immigrant women from around the world who share the same cramped space while struggling to build new lives in America. When a young Ukrainian woman named Inna (Julia Lester) arrives searching for her estranged mother, she stirs up painful memories and forces the others—particularly Renia (Marin Ireland), the Polish landlord of sorts—to confront the choices and sacrifices they’ve made in pursuit of safety, dignity, and belonging. The women’s stories unfold through shifting timelines and layered interactions, creating a poignant mosaic of survival, identity, and the costs of the American Dream.

Martyna Majok’s unsentimental script examines what it means to build a new life in an unfamiliar place while leaving another one behind. Each character’s story adds texture to the collective immigrant experience, and as the play toggles between 2001 and 2017, the audience witnesses how time, loss, and reinvention shape each woman’s path.

Outstanding ensemble cast

Stage veteran Marin Ireland anchors the production with her remarkable portrayal of Renia, a Polish immigrant whose stoic strength masks deep emotional scars. Ms. Ireland’s mastery of dialects and nuance brings authenticity to every line. Equally compelling is Anna Chlumsky as Agata, whose realism and quiet heartbreak elevate the play’s emotional core. Nadine Malouf gives a particularly poignant performance as Aamani, an Afghan woman whose memories of surviving Taliban oppression and her identity as a woman and a lesbian lend the show moments of haunting despair.

Trip Cullman directs with his usual sensitivity and precision, keeping the pacing tight despite the script’s complex, time-jumping structure. The dialogue occasionally becomes dense and obtuse, especially in scenes where the women speak in thick accents or other languages, making it hard to follow at times. Still, Ms. Majok’s reworked script (originally staged in 2018) is much improved — clearer, more cohesive, and thematically resonant in today’s political climate.

Relevant in modern-day America

For a drama steeped in heavy themes, Queens never drags. Its honesty about immigration, sacrifice, and female resilience feels especially urgent and topical in 2025 America. The result is an affecting, beautifully acted piece of theater that stays with you long after the lights go down.

Published November 6, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on October 30, 2025

‘QUEENS’: Marin Ireland & Anna Chlumsky. Photo: Valerie Terranova.

‘QUEENS’: (Clockwise from top left): The cast; Brooke Bloom & Nadine Malouf; Anna Chulmsky; Julia Lester & Marin Ireland. Photos: Valerie Terranova.

‘QUEENS’: Marin Ireland & Sharlene Cruz. Photo: Valerie Terranova.

‘QUEENS’: (top) Julia Lester; (bottom) Andrea Syglowski. Photos: Valerie Terranova.

‘QUEENS’: Nicole Villamil & Marin Ireland. Photo: Valerie Terranova.

‘QUEENS’: Nadine Malouf, Nicole Villamil, Marin Ireland & Brooke Bloom. Photo: Valerie Terranova.