September 30, 2025 | Theatre,

Critics on Hang Time

This season, Zora Howard’s HANG TIME is coming to the ArtsEmerson Paramount Center from October 9th-12th. For those who attended our season preview, you might remember the quick video featuring Howard’s brief commentary on the piece. “What is hang time about,” she begins. “Three men chew the fat under an old, wide tree.” Perhaps it left some of you wondering! 

In an interview for The Flea, actors Akron Watson (Slim), Dion Graham (Bird), and Cecil Blutcher (Blood), spoke on the process of portraying Howard’s characters. While these are not the same actors you’ll be seeing this fall, they played a critical role in the play’s creation, and their insight rings true.

“I say to Bird, We are not the same, and it says so much. Black men are not a monolith. Black people are not a monolith. And we don’t have to be the same.”

— Akron Watson as Slim

“It’s a piece that’s looking at black men, at their lives, their dimensionality, and the journey we’re making in this life.”

— Dion Graham as Bird

“Something about that line just encapsulates that timelessness, that 3D nature of what we’re doing. It’s a blessing to be a part of a process and to watch something evolve. It feels like a jazz ensemble,”

— Cecil Blutcher as Blood

Critical acclaim for HANG TIME is abundant. This show is funny, and shockingly (yet unsurprisingly) poignant – here’s what the New York Times has remarked “Hang Time is undoubtedly moving…a masterwork of small intricacies. Howard, who wrote and directed this production, certainly knows how to make an impression” while Front Row Center has called the show “a startling and stunning tableau…an absolutely heart-wrenching and hauntingly beautiful experience.”

HANG TIME is not to be missed but tickets are limited, so be sure to secure your seats today.