SpeakEasy’s “POTUS” Soothes Our Distressed Political Souls With the Balm of Humor

September 30, 2023September 30, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s production of “POTUS” (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)

“POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord. Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Costume Design by Rebecca Glick. Fight Choreography by Angie Jepson. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston, through October 15.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Hands down, “POTUS” takes the prize for the most winning opening scene currently on stage in Boston. It is shriek-out-loud funny, clever, pithy, lightning-paced, and uncompromisingly no-nonsense.

The setting is The White House, not exactly the Trump administration, but also not exactly not the Trump administration. Two pantsuit-clad women are in mid-conversation when the audience joins them.

Chief of Staff Harriet (Lisa Yuen) is filling in Press Secretary Jean (Laura Latreille) on the morning’s diplomatic meeting and on what POTUS did that she, as press liaison, will have to spin at the press briefing that is about to start.

Speakeasy’s POTUS: A Farce to Be Reckoned With

September 23, 2023September 23, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Catia, Marianna Bassham, and Johanna Carlisle-Zepeda SpeakEasy Stage’s production of “POTUS” (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)

By Linda Chin

U.S. presidents are the central figures of two productions running concurrently in Boston theatres this fall – Lyric’s Assassins, a musical about seven men and two women trying to kill the president by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, and Speakeasy’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, an uproariously funny ‘straight’ play that marked playwright Selina Fillinger’s recent Broadway debut. Fillinger’s commander-in-chief is not named or seen on stage; the play puts seven women who are typically behind the scenes front and center. Individually, the chief of staff, first lady, lover, press secretary, secretary, sister, and a White House reporter are forces of nature; banded together, they make POTUS a farce to be reckoned with.

Speakeasy’s ‘POTUS’ Mines Chaos, Laughs in the Oval Office

September 19, 2023September 19, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

“POTUS; Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” – Written by Selina Fillinger. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord; Sound Design by Audrey Dube; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Rebecca Glick; Fight Choreography by Angie Jepson. Presented by Speakeasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through October 15

by Mike Hoban

There’s a lot to like about POTUS, the opening production for Speakeasy Stage’s 2023-2024 season. Featuring not only an all-female cast but an all-female production team, this lightning-paced farce sends up the absurdity of a crew of over-qualified, under-appreciated women propping up a misogynistic boob as he bumbles his way through his leadership role. Only in this case, it’s not an American corporation or institution; it’s the most pressure-packed job on the planet – the U.S. presidency.

Sparkly Promsembles Elevate SpeakEasy’s ‘The Prom’

May 16, 2023December 26, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of “The Prom.” (Photos: Nile Scott Studios)

‘The Prom’ – Music and Lyrics by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin. Directed by Paul Daigneault. Music Direction by Paul S. Katz. Choreography by Taavon Gamble. Scenic Design by Jenna McFarland Lord. Costume Design by Miranda Kau Giurleo. Lighting Design by Karen Perlow. Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Calderwood/ Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through June 10, 2023.

by Linda Chin

Though their Broadway show closed on opening night and the critics wrote them off as “aging narcissists,” co-stars Dee Dee Allen (a dee-lightful Mary Callanan), and Barry Glickman (an effervescent Johnny Kuntz) are determined to stay in the limelight. Joined by fellow #wasOnBroadwaynowOff actors Angie Dickinson (a zazzy Lisa Yuen) and Julliard alum Trent Oliver (a hilarious Jared Troilo), the group decides to become “celebrity activists,” who selflessly support a cause, and are “the kind of stars the press adores.” With publicist Sheldon (a charismatic Meagan Lewis Michelson) along for the adventure, the five “liberal democrats from Broadway” head to Indiana to help a teenager whose story is trending on Twitter: “a girl who wanted to take her girlfriend to the high school prom and the PTA went apeshit.”

Speakeasy’s ‘Wild Goose Dreams’ an Online Odyssey of Longing and Loneliness

April 3, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Ciaran D’Hondt, Fady Demian, Elaine Hom, Ryan Mardesich, Amanda Centeno, and
John D. Haggerty in Speakeasy’s ‘Wild Goose Dreams’. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Wild Goose Dreams’ – Written by Hansol Jung. Directed by Seonjae Kim; Scenic Design by Crystal Tiala; Costume Design by Machel Ross; Lighting Design by Kathleen Zhou; Sound Design by George Cooke. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage at The Calderwood Pavillion, Boston through April 8.

By Sophie Kim

Speakeasy Stage’s production of “Wild Goose Dreams,” a play written by Hansol Jung and directed by Seonjae Kim, is a fast-paced, unpredictable, and deliciously fantastical exploration of what it’s like to live your life online, the difficulty of being vulnerable, and the internet as a double-edged sword of loneliness and connection.

Speakeasy’s ‘Wild Goose Dreams’ Is A Surreal Romp Between Two Realities

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Shelley Sackett

On its surface, ‘Wild Goose Dreams,’ lays out parallel tales of migration, sacrifice, and dreams. To fully appreciate Hansol Jung’s brilliant script and Seonjae Kim’s spot-on direction, a little background is helpful. Geese migrate with the seasons, traveling great distances and enduring physical hardships to secure food and shelter for their families. Their survival hinges on uprooting themselves and flying to an unknown place that they hope will provide what they need.

A Fair Warning: Speakeasy’s ‘Fairview’ is an Experience Not to Be Missed

February 24, 2023December 3, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Speakeasy’s ‘Fairview’. Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Dom Carter, Yewande Odetoyinbo, Victoria Omoregie. Photos: Nile Scott Studios

‘Fairview’ –Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury. Directed by Pascale Florestal. Scenic Design by Erik D. Diaz. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Sound Design by James Cannon. Fight and Intimacy Choreography by Amanda O’Donnell. At the Roberts Studio Theater, Boston, through March 11, 2023.

by Linda Chin

SpeakEasy’s highly-anticipated Boston premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning Fairview is billed as a bold and disarmingly funny play. Set in the tastefully appointed home of the Frasiers, a seemingly typical, middle-class Black American family, in contemporary times (a portrait of the Obamas adorns the living room wall), the play opens with the household abuzz with preparations for Grandma’s birthday celebration. But lest audience members expect to sit back, relax, and laugh for the duration of this 100-minute, intermission-less play, be “fair warned” that only the first of the three acts is a comedy (and includes a fair share of family drama that I found both familiar and funny). Its sitcom style is reminiscent of popular shows of earlier decades, like The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, and Family Matters.

SpeakEasy’s ‘English’ Explores The Tipping Point Between Identity and Heritage

November 6, 2022November 17, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘English’ at Speakeasy Stage. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘English’ –Sanaz Toossi, Playwright. Melory Mirashrafi, Director. Janie E. Howland, Scenic Designer. Nina Vartanian, Costume Designer. Amanda E. Fallon, Lighting Designer. Ash, Sound Designer. Emme Shaw, Props Designer. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through November 19, 2022.

by Shelley A. Sackett

SpeakEasy Stage’s production of Sanaz Toossi’s ‘English’ starts out simply enough. Four Iranian students are studying in Karaj for the Test of English as a Foreign Language Exam (TOEFL) , an English proficiency exam they must pass if they hope to pursue university study abroad, immigration and more. Their teacher, Marjan (a first-rate Deniz Khateri), rules her classroom with an iron fist. They will speak only English during class, and when anyone slips into Farsi, she posts a strike against them on her giant blackboard, practically snarling with scorn.

Speakeasy’s ‘English’ Accents the Universal Desire to be Understood

November 3, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘English’ –Sanaz Toossi, Playwright. Melory Mirashrafi, Director. Janie E. Howland, Scenic Designer. Nina Vartanian, Costume Designer. Amanda E. Fallon, Lighting Designer. Ash, Sound Designer. Emme Shaw, Props Designer. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through November 19, 2022.

by Linda Chin

Like the four friends we recently met in Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Speakeasy’s English, by Sanaz Toossi, also centers on four classmates having “big conversations” that make their brains hurt. ‘Splitting’ headaches emerge when difficult subject matter is discussed amongst people ‘split’ along ideological lines, by an age/generational gulf, or by language barriers that inhibit communication.

A Thoughtful Lesson in Speakeasy’s “English”

October 25, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘*English’ at Speakeasy Stage.* From left: Deniz Khateri, Josephine Moshiri Elwood, Lily Gilan James, Zaven Ovian, and Leyla Modirzadeh. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

“English” – By Sanaz Toossi. Directed by Melory Mirashrafi. Presented by Speakeasy Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA through November 19.

by Michele Markarian

“Why do we learn language?” Marjan, a teacher (Deniz Khateri) asks her four Iranian students, who are taking her English class to prepare for the TOEFL exam. The year is 2008, the place is Karaj, Iran. The students are Roya, a grandmother (Leyla Modirzadeh), Elham, a young woman (Josephine Moshiri Elwood), teenager Goli (Lily Gilan James) and Omid (Zaven Ovian).