Jay Eddy Brings Healing (and a Brilliant Score) to Boston Playwrights’ Theatre with ‘Driving in Circles’

March 28, 2024March 28, 2024 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jordan Palmer, Jay Eddy and Zach Fontanez in Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s ‘Driving in Circles’

Written & performed by Jay Eddy; Directed by Sam Plattus; Scenic Designer: Danielle DelaFuente; Lighting Designer: Kevin Fulton; Sound Designer: Gage Baker; Costume Designer: Eric Tran; Projection Designer: Maria Servellon. Presented at Boston Playwrights’ Theater through April 6, 2024

By Mike Hoban

In the pulsating opening number of the enthralling semi-solo autobiographical musical Driving in Circles, writer and performer Jay Eddy describes “what to do in an earthquake,” singing, “Stay down, stay down, stay down (because) it’s the aftershock that kills you.” It’s a brilliant metaphor for what survivors of sexual abuse experience long after the physical abuse has ceased, as Eddy details in their powerful but surprisingly funny and touching work. Part monologue, part performance art, part standup comedy, and powered by an astonishingly cool “folktronica” score that likely rivals any album you’ll hear from the current crop of indie artists, it’s a unique theatrical experience.

Fear in Having ‘Gone Nowhere’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Marc Pierre and Sam Warton in ‘Gone Nowhere’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre

by James Wilkinson

‘Gone Nowhere’ – Written by Daniel C. Blanda. Directed by Noah Putterman. Scenic Design: Adam Hawkins. Lighting Design: Kevin Dunn. Sound Design: Nicholas Y. Chen. Costume Design: Sandra Zhihan Jia. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave. Boston through November 14

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s Gone Nowhere passes through the mind so quickly that you’re going to have to remind yourself it was ever there. Even now I’m having difficulty conjuring up scenes to write about. It’s a whisp of an experience made all the more disappointing because, I actually went into the production with high hopes. We’re in the middle of a strange time in Boston theater where everything being offered to audiences is trapped in the death grip of respectability. Come on in and feel better. Let us remind you how important theatre is. Cynical as it may sound, I don’t say that as a knock against quality; some of the recent shows post-pandemic have been quite good. But being stranded in a sea of noble intentions does make you long for something that breaks the mold a bit and indulges in some trashy fun for its own sake. Gone Nowhere, with its promises of eerie atmosphere and pulpier materialseemed poised to liven things up. Is it unfair for me to expect the play to be something that it isn’t? Perhaps. But then you fall into the frustrating puzzle of trying to figure out just what the play’s intentions really are.

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre Excavates the Past with “Lorena: a Tabloid Epic”

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of “Lorena: A Tabloid Epic” at Boston Playwright’s Theatre*. *Photos by Stratton McCrady*

by James Wilkinson

Lorena: a Tabloid Epic – Written by Eliana Pipes. Directed by Erica Terpening-Romeo. Scenic Design: Meg McGuigan. Lighting Design: Amanda Fallon. Sound Design: Sean A. Doyle. Costume Design: Emma George. Properties Design: Steven Doucette. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215 through October 24, 2021

Because I’m the kind of person that likes theatre to be a social occasion, I brought a friend with me to see Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s Lorena: a Tabloid Epic. When the final applause died down and the house lights came on, the two of us left our seats with a very heavy silence between us. We both appeared on the verge of saying something though neither of us seemed confident about what that something would be. So there it hung in the air between us and there it stayed until about two blocks away from the building when I decided to take the plunge and ask her the delicate question, “So what did you think of the show?”

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s ‘Deal Me Out’ Plays to Win

February 20, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Cast of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s ‘Deal Me Out’. Photo Credit: Stratton McCrady*

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Deal Me Out’ – Written by MJ Halberstadt. Directed by Shana Gozansky. Scenic Design: Jillian Tone. Lighting Design: Qian Chengyuan. Sound Design: David Wilson. Costume Design: Talia Adler. Properties Design: Sally Tomasetti. Produced by and at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston through March 1, 2020.

To understand this review, you have to understand the mentality of a critic. I’ve seen, (and read), a number of spiritual siblings to Deal Me Out, the new play at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Plays that look to directly speak about the moment we’re living in (however you may define ‘the moment’. Pick your poison.). A collection of characters is assembled, meant to stand-in for the surrounding society, and then they have at it. Trapped in the playing space of a stage, the characters bash into each other, releasing the tensions that the playwright tells the audience are all around us, (usually while they wag a finger at us). Grievances are read, vendettas have out and we’re all expected to go home moaning, “Oh, what a world! What a wretched world we live in!” Granted, the description of “two characters walk into a room and have an interaction” applies to pretty much every play, but I think that there’s something particularly insidious when the playwright tries to say us, “this is us, today.” Telling us what’s what without the aid of hindsight and perspective tends to lead to something we slog through rather than are exhilarated by. In pursuit of the present, playwrights oversimplify, they condescend and I end the evening going, “Yeah, I’m not buying this.”

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre Introduces You to ‘the smuggler’

November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

( Billy Meleady in ‘the smuggler’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre – Photos by Stratton McCrady)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘the smuggler’ – Written and directed by Ronan Noone. Scenic Design: Adam Hawkins. Lighting Design: Amanda Fallon. Sound Design: Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky. Costume Design: Emily Keebler. Properties Design: Cayenne Douglass. Dramaturg: Caity-Shea Violette. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston through November 24

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s production of the smuggler comes at you from across the room with a mischievous wink, the kind that says “Don’t worry folks. I know it all looks dark and gloomy in here, but we’re going to have a good time.” You might be a little apprehensive when it makes a move on you from the other end of the bar, but after it cracks a few jokes and flashes that smile, down goes your guard. Having sensed an opening, the smuggler snags the next bar stool over while offering to buy you a drink and you think, “Well…what the hell?” I’m not sure the mischief the original wink promises ever quite materializes, but damned if I didn’t have that good time while slinging back a few in its company. The production is too damn smooth to turn down.

Book Clubs Get ‘Spinal Tap’ Treatment in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’

October 9, 2019October 9, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Becca A. Lewis and Greg Mariao in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘The Book Club Play’. Photos by Stratton MacCrady)

by Mike Hoban

The Book Club Play – Written by Karen Zacarías; Directed by Shana Gozansky; Scenic Design by Jeffrey Petersen; Lighting Design by Kat C. Zhou; Sound Design by Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky; Costume Design by Kevin Morris. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, through October 13

There’s a saying that came out not long after the first photographs were developed, “The camera cannot lie”. And as those of us who are less-than-photogenic can attest, the truth isn’t always pretty. The same can be said of film, which is the premise of The Book Club Play, an updated version of the 2008 Karen Zacarías work now being given its Boston premiere at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

As the title suggests, the focus of the play is a book club, which in turn is the focus of a documentary by a (fictional) acclaimed Danish documentary film maker, the amusingly named Lars Knudsen. He’s interested in documenting the distinctly American phenomenon of the book club, and has chosen one founded and led by Ana – pronounced “Ah-nuh” – (the gifted Becca A Lewis), a lifestyle columnist for the city’s daily paper that, as we soon learn, is more than a little bit controlling. We first meet her as she is speaking into the camera, describing Book Club as a “safe haven…a place to read, talk, and to be our authentic selves.”

Is There Life on Mars?

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Jane Reagan, Mal Malme and Scot Colford in the ‘Earth Room’. Photo by Paul Fox)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Earth Room’ – Written by Marge Buckley. Directed by Rebecca Bradshaw. Scenic Design by Lindsay Fuori. Lighting Design by Abigail Wang. Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl. Prop Design by Victoria Hermann. Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill. Fight Choreography by Omar Robinson. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave., Boston through May 18, 2019

Somewhere along the way, we all seem to have made the collective decision that in the future, everything will be chrome and minimalist, (the average interior design on an episode of an HGTV show suggests that we’re well on our way to making this new reality). Part of me wants to assign responsibility to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey for implanting the aesthetic in our heads, but really, that film just extrapolates from earlier sci-fi depictions of the future. In any case, the design choice now exists as a kind of short hand for the audience, one that Fresh Ink Theatre’s new production, The Earth Room traffics in. It’s clear that we’re not in Kansas anymore (or anywhere else on Earth for that matter), when we step into the room with Lindsay Fuori’s set. In more ways than one, there’s a neatness to the room. There are tight, crisp edges to the (minimal) furniture. Geometric patterns line the walls, cocooning us in a grey shell. Conspicuously absent from the room are any sort of personal effects (as though the owner went the full-Kondo and decided that nothing they owned sparked joy). It’s a sci-fi world that we’re rocketing into, one with problems that both are and are not like those of us back on home.

Something Lurks in Boston Playwrights’ Dead House

April 23, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by James Wilkinson

‘Dead House’ – Written by Beirut Balutis. Directed by Adam Kassim; Scenic Design by Steven Doucette; Lighting Design by Hannah Solomon; Sound Design by J Jumbelic; Costume Design by Ruth King; Fight Choreography by Jessica Scout Malone. Presented by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at 949 Commonwealth Ave. through April 28, 2019

***Author’s note: Due to the holiday weekend, I was unable to attend the press performance of Dead House and instead saw one of the previews. Therefore, please know that the show may have changed between that performance and the official opening night. The following is based on the performance that I saw.

As we grow up, we absorb so much information via osmosis about what high school is like. I’m inclined to call bullshit on a lot of it. Pop culture feeds us stories about the prevalence of social groups and the strict hierarchies that they exist in, however at the time of my own high school experience, I never found much of that information particularly useful or accurate. Yes, absolutely, everyone had their own circle of friends, but the cliques people belonged to were more guidelines than scripture and there were always individuals that broke through the stereotypes. Cheerleaders could be seen hanging out with the goths. The art students would date the athletes. The captain of the football team was also one best students in school. Involvement with the marching band was a point of pride, not shame. I never really experienced that “stick to your lane” mentality that we’re told to expect.

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre has you Laughing in Spanish

February 27, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Ireon Roach, Jackie Davis, Adrian Abel Amador – Photograph credit: Kalman Zabarsky)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Laughs in Spanish’ – Written by Alexis Scheer. Directed by Sara Katzoff. Scenic Design: Sean Perreira. Lighting Design: Hannah Solomon. Sound Design: Stephanie Lynn Yackovetsky. Costume Design: Chloe Chafet. Produced by Boston Playwrights’ Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 949 Commonwealth Ave. Boston through March 3

I’ve only visited Florida a handful of times and have never been to Miami. Each trip was to Orlando and if I had to venture a guess, true Floridians probably don’t view the world of Walt Disney as “real” Florida. I’ll have to take it on faith that the Miami invoked in Boston Playwrights’ Theatre’s Laughs in Spanish is true to the real place, but given that playwright Alexis Scheer calls the city her home, I’m willing to make that leap. There’s an energy at play in Laughs in Spanish, a kind of beat that you start bobbing your head to as you enter the theater. You don’t realize how easily you’ve slipped into the world of the play. It’s a world of rhythm and color and once you’re on its wavelength, the production hooks you with its many charms and keeps you in a state of frothy fun.

Underlings’ Beast Approaches

January 16, 2019December 27, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by James Wilkinson

‘What Rough Beast’ – Written by Alice Abracen. Directed by Lelaina Vogel. Scenic Design: Michelle Sparks. Lighting Design: Kat C. Zhou. Costume Design: Evelyn Quinn. Sound Design and Composition: Joshua Garcia. Presented by The Underlings Theatre Co. at Boston Playwrights Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston through January 19

The other day while driving home from the grocery store, I happened to catch the end of the TED Radio Hour on NPR and the speaker was Sue Klebold, mother of one of the Columbine High School shooters. If you’ve never heard it before, it’s worth seeking out. Her talk is relevant here for a few different reasons, but what brings it to my mind now is how she wrestles with the idea of finding answers in the face of unspeakable tragedy. In the years after her son became infamous, she and anyone she interacted with couldn’t let go of the idea of find that missing magical ingredient that would have prevented everything. If only she had hugged her son more. If only she had said “I love you” more often. If only he hadn’t played those violent videogames. The answer, though, can’t be found in a fortune cookie. You have to wade into much more complicated waters.