by Mike Hoban
“Mr. Parent” Written by Melinda Lopez with Maurice Emmanual Parent. Conceived with and Directed by Megan Sandberg-Zakian. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Sound Design/Composer, Arshan Gailus; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Yao Chen. Presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon St. through Feb. 6
For most anyone working in the arts – save for the top echelon of folks that are able to actually earn a living doing what they love – the thrill of being in the spotlight is all too often offset by the rigors of a day job. For some that means working in occupations that are solely about earning a paycheck, and for others it means their career clearly trumps the artistic endeavor. For Boston actor Maurice Emmanuel Parent, what started out as a way to earn a living and pay down his massive student loans eventually became much more than just a job, as he took on his most important role – that of a schoolteacher in the Boston Public School system.
The story of his five year journey as a teacher by day, thespian at night is detailed in Mr. Parent, an engaging one-person play now making its world premiere at The Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Parent has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of Boston’s best and most popular male actors – as evidenced by multiple Elliot Norton (2008 and 2017) and IRNE Awards (2015, 2016 and 2017 wins plus five additional nominations) for the consistent degree of excellence he brings to both dramatic and musical roles.
In this 90 minute piece, he relates stories from both worlds, and we get to witness his evolution from a theater instructor who wants to be a friend to the kids – particularly those who are “different” – into a real teacher in every sense of the word, as he morphs into a sterner disciplinarian in the mold of his mentor, a Colombian-born female teacher who shows him the ropes. It’s a valuable lesson, as many of his mostly black and brown students come from less-than-stable homes afflicted by poverty and other social ills. While school is a respite for some, the underfunded and understaffed Boston Public School systems cannot adequately address the vast array of needs of its students, and it begins to take its toll on Parent, and what was once just a job slowly becomes a larger and larger part of his identity.
The stories about the kids he teaches range from amusing to heartbreaking, and when Parent is moved to tears as he relates some of the interactions, it’s clear he’s not just acting. He also performs scenes from productions he appeared in throughout his acting career, so we get a taste of his immense talent. Some of the show’s funniest moments come when the two worlds collide, such as when a staunch conservative teacher attends one of his performances (The Motherf**ker with the Hat) where he is fully nude, or when one of his students discovers a script for the subversive theatrical comedy, Booty Candy, and broadcasts to the other students that “Mr. Parent is in a porno!”
Parent collaborated with two other heavyweights on the Boston theater scene for the production – director Megan Sandberg-Zakian, arguably as good a director as there is in Boston (two best director IRNEs and a body of excellent work) and playwright Melinda Lopez (winner of the 2019 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence), who wrote and performed her own first-person account Mala, which dealt with her coming to grips with the end of life of her parents. With this much creative firepower and the wealth of material, I had high expectations for this production, but unfortunately, it falls short of its potential. All too often it has the feel of a workshop production, as the many story threads, while interesting, don’t seem to tie into a greater narrative. One prime example is when Parent tells the story of performing in New Rep’s Snow Queen (for which her earned an IRNE) and suffering chest pains mid-scene. His dramatic re-enactment sounds like the set-up for a larger story, but it just goes nowhere, other than him having to wear a heart monitor for a couple weeks. It’s a play in need of editing and refining, something that one imagines will take place in later productions.
Which doesn’t mean it isn’t worth seeing. Parent is always an arresting performer, and the many of the stories have some real depth and humor, particularly the ones where he works with students struggling with issues the school system is not designed to address. It’s just that in its current state, Mr. Parent isn’t quite ready to go to the head of the class. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.lyricstage.com/
