{"id":475045,"date":"2026-02-12T12:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T12:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/475045\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T12:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T12:18:07","slug":"the-monsters-siblings-mma-and-the-monsters-we-carry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/475045\/","title":{"rendered":"The Monsters: Siblings, MMA, and the \u201cMonsters\u201d We Carry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of Half Hour, we discuss the Off-Broadway world premiere of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattantheatreclub.com\/shows\/2025-26-season\/the-monsters\/?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=23343069800&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADQ8MHpWsQDOX22nlTn9b-7FuSQf-&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA7rDMBhCjARIsAGDBuECRIfH_4zU1YQmoxYg2CWbQ4Mvp2yyJlR-qWkuYJflGO9QaBrJpzKkaAuGPEALw_wcB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Monsters<\/a>, written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu and presented by Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center\u2019s Stage II. We walk through the play\u2019s premise, following Lil as she turns up at the door of her older brother Big, a local MMA fighter, and how their long-delayed reunion becomes a reckoning with old wounds, ambition, and the \u201cmonsters\u201d they both carry.<\/p>\n<p>We examine the structure and pacing of the piece, Ngozi Anyanwu\u2019s direction, and how the production uses fighting and training as a frame for a sibling love story rather than a traditional sports narrative. We highlight the performances by Aigner Mizzelle and Okieriete Onaodowan, Andrew Boyce\u2019s scenic design, and how The Monsters fits into Manhattan Theatre Club\u2019s contemporary, character-driven work, before closing with our \u201cHalf-Minute\u201d wrap-up where each of us singles out a moment that stayed with us.<\/p>\n<p>Follow and connect with all things @HalfHourPodcast on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/halfhourpodcast\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060Instagram\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@halfhourpodcast?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060TikTok\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060<\/a>, and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/uHCpychLbmk?feature=shared\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060YouTube\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060\u2060<\/a>. Share your thoughts on this production in the comments on Spotify, and let us know what you would like us to cover next. If you enjoy these post-show conversations, follow Half Hour and leave a rating and review so more theater lovers can find the podcast.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this episode of Half Hour, we discuss the Off-Broadway world premiere of The Monsters, written and directed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[242120,64,1590,63,242122,16812,786,242121,785,242123,85,242119,39947],"class_list":["post-475045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-and-the-monsters-we-carry","tag-au","tag-audio","tag-australia","tag-broadway-podcast","tag-episode","tag-fighting","tag-half-hour-with-jeff-richie-post-show-broadway-discussions-and-interviews","tag-mma","tag-musical-theater","tag-sports","tag-the-monsters-siblings","tag-theater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}