Prince Faggot Off-Broadway review: ‘No kings in NYC, but we bow to the princess of the pier’
The queer production has been extended due to high demand following a series of sold-out shows
Following a sold-out run at Playwrights Horizons/Soho Rep, Jordan Tannahill’s Prince Faggot arrives at Studio Seaview on Off-Broadway.
Recommended for ages 18+, the play is a phone‑free production where all devices are put away, creating a “respectful space for artists and audiences alike”.
Originally set to close on 26 October, the queer production has been extended due to high demand following a series of sold-out shows scheduled to run through 30 November, 2025.
“We are entering a version of history the world has never seen”
Prince Faggot, written by Jordan Tannahill and directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, now at Studio Seaview, is wildly camp, unexpectedly soulful, and at times gut-punch emotional. It opens with projected photos of Prince George in some of his most infamously fabulous childhood poses, mirrored by the cast flashing their own baby photos and sharing early queer memories. The premise arrives with a wink: we are entering a version of history the world has never seen – a gay prince, and eventually, a gay royal wedding.
Prince of Wales (Image: Marc J. Franklin)
George (Image: Marc J. Franklin)
“Their sex scenes are startlingly honest”
John McCrea plays George, with Mihir Kumar as Dev, the great love fate refuses to legitimise. Their relationship fractures under a painfully familiar truth: it may be palatable for a prince to be white and gay, but to love a brown queer partner is a scandal the Palace will not abide. Their sex scenes are startlingly honest – not shock for shock’s sake, but raw depictions of gay intimacy, rendered with wit and intellectual heat. When Dev walks away, George descends into chemsex and battles addiction. Will he give it all up for the one he loves, or marry for the monarchy?
It is within the ensemble’s collective confessions that Prince Faggot finds its sharpest edge. K. Todd Freeman, as William, erupts at his son before stepping out of character to recount how a teacher once tried to “take the Blackness out” of his Shakespeare – turning monarchy into metaphor for erasure and inherited shame. Rachel Crowl, who plays Kate, follows with her own revelation of never having lived a trans adolescence, the ache of watching younger girls claim freely what she was denied.
“No jewels, no stipend, just love, respect, and chosen family”
David Greenspan ricochets through multiple roles with delirious glee, delivering a monologue on fisting so committed it nearly deserves its own knighthood. And N’yomi Allure Stewart, who long before this play earned the title Princess of the Pier at a waterside ball, anchors the night with lived royalty: no jewels, no stipend, just love, respect, and chosen family. In her presence, the play reframes itself; we have spent nearly two hours chasing a gay prince, only to find that the true princess has been among us all along.
The world around them is rendered with exhilarating vision – scenic designer David Zinn conjures a dreamscape of decadence, and Lee Kinney’s original music thrums with salt-burn club energy; more than once, I wanted to climb on stage and dance.
“I had the best time”
Yes, Prince Faggot is messy. Ideas ricochet, timelines tangle, satire melts into sermon. But between the monologues, the fetish, the fury, and the sweat-slick desire, I did not care. This is not a polished play. It is a coronation of chaos, grief, lust, rage, and queer imagination.
There may be no kings in New York. But last night, we bowed to a princess. And I had the best time.
Tickets are available to purchase now through the Studio Seaview website.