On Opening Night of Where We Stand, Ensemble Theatre Cincinati’s Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers said “the only way in the world I am doing this show is with Tori Wiggins.”
Wiggins is a Cincinnati MVP–a Most Valuable Player. She is a leader, and highly capable across a great range of styles and genres, bringing a rare warmth and ease to her performances. She is an artist who knows how to connect directly with an audience and who always seems to have a few surprises up her sleeve.
Those surprises are fully on display in Where We Stand by Donnetta Lavinia Grays, now onstage at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. Written in beautiful verse, sharing about characters we all know, this is a lovely poetic piece. The production keeps the audience leaning in and at the edge of their seats, with Wiggins embodying a cast of multitudes and inviting us into a story that unfolds deliberately, poetically, and, by the end, collectively.
Wiggins enters the show from the audience, then moves immediately to house right, singing and pulling in the audience in a call-and-response. Participation, through singing and clapping, continues throughout, reinforcing the play’s insistence that this story belongs to everyone in the room.
Lyrical storytelling takes some patience, reveals itself slowly, one layer peeled back at a time, like tissue paper pulled from a carefully wrapped package. Only at the end do you fully know what’s being unwrapped.
The Story Unfolds
At the center of the narrative is a lonely old Man, cast out of society, someone you’d drive by, ignore, who receives an unexpected visitor, dressed in gold, (“his walk was silk, while mine was burlap-ed”). This visitor offers him a chance to change his circumstances, his surroundings—to turn a “used to be” into a “stay awhile.” After an evening of drinking (something from a flask) and storytelling, the man is given three objects: a golden spade, a pack of seeds, and a scythe. Two are meant to make things grow; the third, to wipe things clean.
Buoyed by wonder and newly found purpose, the man inspires his community. “What was” becomes “what can be.” The town—and its people—are transformed. New things grow. They feel a sense of pride of place for the first time. They lift him up, admire him, respect him. But eventually, hubris takes hold. Not just his own, but the community’s as well. Everything comes tumbling down, and the space is left as bad—or worse—than before.
The Audience Gets to Weigh In
And then comes the twist.
At the end of the play, the audience is asked to decide: Do we condemn the man, or absolve him? There is an actual vote.
On opening night, the result was strikingly lopsided: 104 audience members voted to absolve him; 7 voted to hold him accountable. Did we see not just his hubris, but the collective hubris of the community? How many missed the fact that the neighborhood was now worse off than when it began? How many thought that now they were a community, anything was possible? Who felt the man should have known better than to trust a stranger dressed in finery promising much?
Were we swayed by idealism? Or by Wiggins’ silver tongue? (There’s probably a reason criminals aren’t tried in beautiful rhyming verse.)
You probably have heard the type of story before, making a bargain with the devil–or the sea witch. Does it ever end well?
Program notes reveal that Where We Stand grew out of a touring program at NY’s Public Theater. It was originally performed pre-COVID in neighborhoods and on the streets—many ripe for gentrification, or already suffering from it. That grounding in lived space, rather than in a theatrical recreation of it, clearly shaped the work and deepens its resonance, even within a traditional theatre setting.
Production
In addition to Wiggins’ commanding, elastic performance, kudos to Gray’s writing, as she elevates the story through rhyme and rhythm. Music Director Jason Alexander Holmes and Sound Designer Robert Carlton Stimmel support the musicality of the text, from the whisper of wind to the crashing of thunder, to the quiet humming and a voice raised in sorrow.
The set (Brian c. Mehring) feels like a theatrical slice of realism—a street corner anchored by a giant puddle, changed by effective lighting punctuating the story. Dr. Daryl Harris brought his eye to provide the appropriate clothing for Man. And all of this is brought together by guest director Candice Handy, as she uses every inch of the space and orchestrates Wiggins symphony of characters.
If anything, this is one of the rare shows that might benefit from slowing down the pace a bit—allowing more pauses for grounding the audience emotionally in the power of the story at the beginning, in addition to being physically involved by singing and clapping. A 10-minute post-show talkback, particularly one that asks the essential question: Why did you vote the way you did? would also be welcome.
Shoutout to Man’s understudy, Amira F. Jackson, putting in the work.
Overall
Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati exists to tell stories—”especially stories you won’t find anywhere else in the city,” says Meyers. Since its founding in 1986, ETC has supported local professional artists and upheld a belief in the transformative power of theatre to build sustainable, vibrant communities. That mission is on full display here.
As a savvy business person, Meyers knows that “lyrical allegory” doesn’t sell as many tickets as much as “Tori Wiggins’ one-woman show.” Go for Tori Wiggins. Then be elevated by a tale told with lyricism, charm—and a hundred different voices, including your own.
Tickets
Where We Stand, starring Tori Wiggins, runs through February 22, 2026. Tickets are available at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati.
Run Time: about 75 minutes
Coming up: Meyer also shared an early announcement for next season—a world premiere of Corner of the Sky: The Music of Stephen Schwartz. It will be a musical collection featuring songs from Pippin, Wicked, Godspell, Children of Eden and more.
