by Mike Hoban
Created by PearlDamour; Text by Lisa D’Amour; Music by Sxip Shirey; Directed by Katie Pearl; Scenic Design by Jian Jung; Music Direction by Sxip Shirey; Costume Design by Olivera Gajic; Lighting Design by Thomas Dunn; Sound Design by Germán Martínez; Projection Design by Tal Yarden. Presented by the American Repertory Theater and commissioned and developed through a collaboration with the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Through March 13 at the Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St. Cambridge, with a digital version available to stream March 9 – 27
Climate change is clearly the greatest threat to the continued existence of the planet as we know it – potentially impending nuclear war with Russia notwithstanding – but as we saw at the latest United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow this past fall, the folks in charge don’t seem all that willing to do anything about it. Despite the grandstanding from heads of state to phase-out coal power and subsidies for fossil fuels, nothing was codified, so it looks like we’ll just burn for another decade or two, until the megastorms and rising seas finally do us in.
In response to the potential apocalypse, Boston theater companies this year have presented some new/new-ish works dealing with the clear and present danger climate change presents – with decidedly mixed results. The Huntington’s Hurricane Diane was a comedy that seemed more concerned with a god/goddess trying to bed middle-aged women than temperature rise; the ART’s ‘WILD!” was a terrific musical take starring the charismatic Idina Menzel, with a fairly silly book (although it still made my Top 5 list for theatrical experiences in 2021); the latest offering, Ocean Filibuster, now receiving its world premiere at the Loeb Drama Center, takes a far more science-y approach, with some music and a little comedy thrown in. The three productions all carry the same dire message, that if we don’t do something, WE ARE DOOMED. All productions, quite frankly, are essentially preaching to the choir, but each has redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, Ocean Filibuster is the weakest of the well-intentioned lot.
It starts out with a clever and almost plausible premise: That the world’s governing body, The Global Federation of Humans on Earth, has decided that the oceans are dying and that they need to be downsized to a more “manageable” level. To get the process started, Mr. Majority, the global Senate leader, is presenting an “End of Ocean Bill” that will create seven inland seas – wiping out a number of “third-world” nations in the process. His presentation has the feel of a high-powered developer steamrolling a small community into building a luxury condominium complex in the town square – powered by a nuclear reactor. The pitch puts the sunniest possible face on the project via a feel-good commercial that is as laughably disingenuous as any insurance company ad (it even has a rapid-fire disclaimer at the end that parodies the Big Pharma commercials that tell you that your headache medicine may cause blindness, impotence and cancer).
As the debate is about to begin, a surprise witness appears with a flourish – the Ocean itself. While the idea is intriguing and starts out with promise, it soon sinks like an anchor as it devolves into a remarkably uninteresting science lecture, featuring pieces on the life of dragon fish and phytoplankton – something that the National Geographic channel does far better. The graphics for the show are surprisingly weak for a big-budget show, and the music is largely uninspired, save for a beautiful a cappella closing number about a whale seeking their mate. There are myriad issues with the production, but number one is the creative decision to have the role of the Ocean and Mr. Majority played by the same actor, the talented Jennifer Kidwell, who is faced with the unenviable task of selling a bad script. As she debates themself, she changes from one character to another by simply putting on and taking off a pair of oversized red glasses, but by the end of the show she doesn’t even bother making the switch, and by then, I honestly had stopped caring about the dialogue anyway.
I’m not in the habit of quoting another reviewer in my reviews, but my feelings about Ocean Filibuster are best summed up by an audience review posted online that a friend forwarded me: “Ultimately (the production) was like a super-rich high schooler made their parents fund a musical version of their project that won the science fair” – Major from Boston.
Amen.
For tickets and information, go to: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/ocean-filibuster/
