'Common Knowledge' Off-Broadway review — Rosie O'Donnell comes home

Read our review of Common Knowledge, Rosie O'Donnell's new autobiographical solo show playing 12 performances only at the Daryl Roth Theatre through August 8.

Summary

• Rosie O'Donnell discusses moving to Ireland; her mother's death; and raising a non-binary child in her solo show Common Knowledge
• O'Donnell is a strong storyteller and delivers her signature panache and no-nonsense observational humor
• The show is recommended for fans of O'Donnell and those interested in family stories that touch on topics including adoption and autism

It’s been about a decade since Rosie O’Donnell was on the New York stage, and she hasn’t lost an ounce of her panache. But while her last special, 2015's A Heartfelt Stand Up, was billed as a comedy act, her newest, Common Knowledge, is billed as a solo show. The difference between the two can feel like splitting hairs, especially for someone like O’Donnell, who started doing stand-up in 1979. But Common Knowledge does feel more like storytelling than an hourlong set of bits strung together.

It takes a pro like O’Donnell to give the familiar contours of the solo-show format — death, drive, parenthood, growth, change — a more distinctive flavor. Her rich, nasal "Lawng Eyelind" accent certainly adds texture and a healthy dollop of nostalgia: Those old enough to remember her talk show will be pleased that moving to Ireland has not softened the thickness of her hard vowels.

Common Knowledge’s 12-performance run offers a compelling frame for the show: In a way, it’s an anti-homecoming. The comedian, actor, and talk show host still identifies as a New Yorker, but she felt compelled to leave the United States right before Donald Trump’s second inauguration, finding a new home in Dublin. At the beginning of the show, she recalls the death of her mother when she was 10 and her family’s subsequent time in Donegal, Ireland near the border of Northern Ireland in the throes of the Troubles in 1973. Now in her 60s and raising her youngest child, Clay, O’Donnell finds herself refamiliarizing herself with her ancestral home.

And it’s not that New York isn’t also a home for her, but the 2016 election and Covid seem to have altered her relationship to the U.S. O’Donnell doesn’t dig deep into these ideas — or most of her ideas, which is perhaps the show’s biggest flaw — and she does imply that her expat status is temporary, saying she’ll return when it’s safer for her and the non-binary, autistic Clay. O’Donnell’s concern for the show, shabbily but charmingly conceived, isn’t common knowledge or merely parenthood. It's lineage.

It makes O’Donnell's stories about parenting adopted children striking in both their sincerity and earnest belief that her love and strength can be carried through generations. The top of the show features a video of her eldest son’s newborn child, a moment that foregrounds the show’s intimacy and access to O’Donnell’s life not as a celebrity, but as a mother.

Clay is the focal point of the show, not only because they reflect an evolution of O’Donnell’s parenting techniques, but as a grounding element in the comedian’s life throughout the last decade of social and political change. O’Donnell imbues Clay with uncanny wisdom that catches her off guard with delightful results. In a story about a birthday party, Clay deadpans rejecting a school frenemy’s attendance with a Wildean wit.

Clay’s emergence as a character in O’Donnell’s work gives Common Knowledge warmth and an emotional anchor, allowing the comedian to reflect on her own history and where home can be in uncertain times.

Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge summary

Rosie O’Donnell returns to live comedy in a sweet solo show where she recounts how the tragedy of her mother’s early passing shaped her as a parent, while telling stories about the obstacles and joys of raising her youngest child in her new home of Dublin, Ireland.

What to expect at Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge

There are a handful of theatrical moments thrown in the show, like helicopters buzzing around while the lights strobe, and some brief slideshow moments assembled by video and sound designer Brad Peterson. Other than that, Common Knowledge is a fairly straightforward solo show and storytelling experience.

Who should see Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge

• Parents with adopted kids will find O’Donnell’s stories about her children and the path through adoption very funny and moving.
• Those interested in stories about the autistic experience will enjoy both O’Donnell’s sincerity toward raising an autistic child, as well as that child’s cutting humor about it, warm and engaging.
• O’Donnell’s fans will welcome her return to performance and comedy, enjoying her observational humor and no-nonsense delivery.

Learn more about Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge off Broadway

Rosie O’Donnell uses her muscles grown in years of standup to craft a solid and tender solo show about grief, parenthood, and finding home where your children are.

Learn more and get Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge tickets on New York Theatre Guide. Rosie O'Donnell: Common Knowledge is at the Daryl Roth Theatre through August 8.

Photo credit: Rosie O'Donnell in Common Knowledge. (Photos by Steve Ullathorne and Lee Byrne)