Child Is Father to Man in SpeakEasy’s “The Children”

March 5, 2020March 6, 2020 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Paula Plum and Karen MacDonald in Speakeasy Stage’s ‘The Children’ – Photos by Maggie Hall Photography)

by Shelley A. Sackett

“The Children”. Written by Lucy Kirkwood. Directed by Bryn Boice. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Sound Design by David Remedios. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 537 Tremont Street, Boston through March 28.

Playwright Lucy Kirkwood had wanted to write about climate change for quite a while when the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan provided the impetus and inspiration. With The Children, a must-see production enjoying its Boston premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company, she has succeeded in crafting a thoughtful and provocative three-character play that manages to raise profound existential and moral questions while slowing peeling back the layers of this threesome’s long and complicated history. It is also one heck of a riveting eco-thriller/emotional detective story brilliantly acted by inimitable stage luminaries Tyrees Allen, Karen MacDonald and Paula Plum.

“The Children” a Stunning Look at What We leave Behind

March 4, 2020 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Tyrees Allen, Paula Plum, and Karen MacDonald in Speakeasy Stage’s ‘The Children’ – Photos by Maggie Hall Photography)

By Michele Markarian

“The Children”. By Lucy Kirkwood. Directed by Bryn Boice. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 537 Tremont Street, Boston through March 28.

“We heard you died,” says Hazel (Paula Plum) to her visitor, Rose (Karen MacDonald), ostensibly an old friend and colleague who has dropped unexpectedly by the temporary housing that Hazel shares with her husband, Robin (Tyrees Allen). It has been thirty-eight years since they’d last seen her on their small British island, and Hazel’s welcome seems less than congenial (she has also, by accident, given Rose a bloody nose). Turns out that the women have shared more than just their former workplace, a nuclear power plant. A tsunami has rendered an accident at the plant, and the residents around it are instructed to live outside of a contaminated exclusion zone. Hazel and Robin have had to abandon their farm and their cattle, much to Hazel’s devastation. Rose, who never married and has lived in America, is seemingly less tethered. Hazel is circumspect about their old friend’s visit with good, intuitive reason – Rose has come back with a request with far-reaching responsibilities and consequences.

Speakeasy Stage’s ‘Pass Over’ Packs a Timely Wallop

January 21, 2020January 21, 2020 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

“Mister (Lewis D. Wheeler), Moses (Kadahj Bennett), and Kitch (Hubens “Bobby” Cius) in Speakeasy Stage’s ‘Pass Over’ – Photos by Nile Scott Studios

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘Pass Over’ – Written by Antoinette Nwandu; Directed by Monica White Ndounou; Scenic Design by Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Kathy A. Perkins; Sound Design by Anna Drummond. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company and Front Porch Arts Collective at Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion through February 2.

Even before ‘Pass Over’ begins, as theatergoers blithely check emails and jockey for their seats, the actors make clear theirs is a production that will claim one’s full attention and engagement. Two young scruffy black men, dressed in hoodies, oversized footwear and hats, prowl around the sparse stage, demanding eye contact and flirting with the women in the front row. By the time the house lights go down and the stage lights go up, these two have established an uneasy arms-length rapport with the audience.

SpeakEasy Stage’s ‘Admissions’ Pierces the Veil of White Male Privilege

November 1, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Nathan Malin, Maureen Keiller and Michael Kaye in SpeakEasy Stage’s Production of “Admissions.” (Maggie Hall Photography)

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘Admissions’ – Written by Joshua Harmon; Directed by Paul Daigneault; Scenic Design by Eric Levenson; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Sound Design by Dewey Dellay; Stage Managed by Stephen MacDonald. Produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through November 30, 2019.

Joshua Harmon’s terrific new play “Admissions,” now making its Boston premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company through November 30, packs a timely wallop. Set at and near Hillcrest, a toney progressive New Hampshire prep school, the plucky drama starts out poking fun at Sherri, Hillcrest’s white admissions director who is not happy with the draft of the Admissions Catalog she has just received.

SpeakEasy’s Topical ‘Admissions’ Intends to Make You Uncomfortable

October 29, 2019November 1, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Nathan Malin, Michael Kaye and Maureen Keiller in SpeakEasy Stage’s Production of “Admissions.” (Maggie Hall Photography)

By Julie-Anne Whitney

The Boston premiere production of Joshua Harmon’s play Admissions, directed by Paul Daigneault, offers an unsettling behind-the-scenes look at issues of class and race through the eyes of the most privileged among us: wealthy, educated white people.

The story centers on Sherri Rosen-Mason (played with thoughtful sensitivity by Maureen Keiller), the head of admissions at Hillcrest, a small New Hampshire prep school, and her headmaster husband, Bill (played by the magnetic Michael Kaye), who have worked for years to expand the racial diversity of the school’s student body, which includes their son, a senior who is anxiously awaiting his college acceptance letters. Boston University student Nathan Malin, gives a commanding, stand-out performance as Charlie, son of Bill and Sherri, who spends the bulk of the play grappling with questions about privilege, fairness, fact versus opinion, and who “deserves” what and why.

SpeakEasy’s ‘Admissions’ a Timely Masterpiece

October 27, 2019November 9, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

by Sheila Barth

‘Admissions’ – Written by Joshua Harmon. One-act, 1 hour-50-minute play. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts, Roberts Studio Theatre, 527 Tremont St., Boston through November 30

The timing for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s tense production of Joshua Harmon’s one-act play Admissions, couldn’t be more perfect. Educators, parents, students undergoing the college admissions process – no-one should miss it. Directed by SpeakEasy’s multiple-award-winning artistic director Paul Daigneault, Admissions delivers realistic, non-stop excitement about a contemporary controversial subject, and lingers long after the terrific cast’s final bows. The winner of the 2018 Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding Play and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play builds non-stop momentum, targeting the fairness-unfairness of colleges’ acceptance of worthy students.

In Speakeasy’s ‘Choir Boy’, Music and Mentors Change Lives

September 23, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Isaiah Reynolds and the cast of Speakeasy’s “Choir Boy” – Photos by by Nile Scott Studios)

by Linda Chin Workman

‘Choir Boy’ – Play by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Directed by Maurice Emmanuel Parent. Music Direction, David Freeman Coleman. Choreography, Yewande Odetoyinbo and Ruka White. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., through October 19

Like his play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, (which was adapted into the Oscar-winning film Moonlight), Choir Boy, by the multi-talented Tarell Alvin McCraney, powerfully reminds us that getting to love who you want and doing what you love are passions worth pursuing, as painful as the pathway may be.

Choir Boy is set at an elite prep school for boys that has been dedicated to educating strong ethical black men for 50 years, an ambitious mission for the 60s and 70s as for present day. From the moment it’s ‘lights up’ on stage, Director Maurice Emmanuel Parent deftly draws us into the lives of eight students who are uniformly dressed in blazers, buttoned-downs and slacks but unsurprisingly, each carries unique baggage on their transformational journey. The central character is Pharus Young (Isaiah Reynolds), a young gay black man who struggles with feeling unworthy and unseen and finding his voice and place in the community. He attends the school on scholarship and for years has aspired to get the coveted position of choir leader, but is all too aware that any misstep could jeopardize his future. Pharus thinks his nemesis Bobby (Malik Mitchell) has a charmed existence, that his joking manner and carefree attitude about breaking rules reflects his privilege as a legacy student and the headmaster’s nephew. Pharus doesn’t realize that below the surface Bobby carries deep hurt from grief and loss.

Speakeasy’s ‘Fun Home’ a Creepily Entertaining Coming of Age Story

June 13, 2019June 14, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Marissa Simeqi, Amy Jo Jackson, & Ellie van Amerongen in Speakeasy’s ‘Fun Home’/Photo Nile Scott Studios)

by Mike Hoban

‘Fun Home’ Music by Jeanine Tesori; Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron; Based on the Graphic Novel by Alison Bechdel; Directed By Paul Daigneault; Music Direction by Matthew Stern; Choreography by Sarah Crane; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston through June 30

Fun Home is not your typical musical. In fact, it, based on its tragicomic nature and lack of any show-stopping musical numbers, it might more accurately be called a play with music. But this Tony Award-winning coming out/coming of age adaptation of Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel memoir is still a pretty gratifying work, due to its compelling storyline and effective performances by the cast.

Humor Trumps Horror in Speakeasy’s Tragicomic Musical ‘The View Upstairs’

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

(Cast of Speakeasy Stage Company’s ‘The View Upstairs’ All photos by Nile Scott Studios)

By Mike Hoban

‘The View Upstairs’ – Written by Max Vernon; Directed by Paul Daigneault; Scenic Design by Abby Shenker; Costume Design by Dustin Todd Rennells; Lighting Design by Abigail Wang; Sound Design by Elektra T. Newman. Presented by the Speakeasy Stage Company at the BCA Plaza Theatre through June 22.

Given that The View Upstairs is a fictional retelling of the final night of the Upstairs Lounge, the New Orleans gay bar that was turned into a fiery deathtrap by an arsonist’s match in 1973 (claiming the lives of 32 people), it’s a bit hard to find the proper descriptor without sounding disrespectful. But the truth of the matter is that this musical, now being given its New England premiere by Speakeasy Stage, is often funny and joyful – for the first 95 minutes anyway – despite its dark undertones. Equal parts Twilight Zone episode, gay sitcom, documentary, and cautionary tale on the ways that the obsession with social media is stealing our collective souls, View is first and foremost a worthwhile entertainment.

“Deep Themes;” Asha-Le Davis on ‘School Girls’

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 Theater MirrorLeave a comment

Asha-Le Davis on “School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play”

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“School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play” – Written by Jocelyn Bioh. Summer L. Williams, Director. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the BCA Roberts Studio Theater, 539 Tremont St., Boston through May 25.

In this video review, Asha-Le Davis assesses “School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play” as “extremely well put together” and full of “important” and “deep themes.”

“It touches on thing I know that I have dealt with,” says Davis, “even here in America.” She goes on to say, “To bring that to the stage is very bold and very needed.” In her opinion, the play addresses “what is a huge problem in our society, while also adding really awesome comedic elements throughout to keep it light and keep you interested.”