Fresh Ink’s Last Catastrophist Goes to the Edge

January 30, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*Evelyn Holley as Marina and Shanelle Chloe Villegas as Lucia in Fresh Ink’s ‘Last Catastrophist’ Photos by Paul Fox*

by James Wilkinson

‘Last Catastrophist’– Written by David Valdes. Directed by Sarah Gazdowicz. Scenic Design Andrew Kolifrath. Lighting Design: Read Davidson. Costume Design: Erica Desautels. Sound Design: Vinny Laino. Prop Design: Lauren Corcuera. Fight Choreographer: Marge Dunn. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts January 24-February 8, 2020.

Fresh Ink Theatre’s Last Catastrophist is a play with two eyes going in two different directions. On one side, it’s a sort of odd couple buddy comedy. Two protagonists, ones with polar opposite personalities, are forced together on a journey which is designed to bring them closer together as they slowly learn to trust each other. On the other side of the equation, Last Catastrophist is a paranoia-soaked conspiracy eco-thriller, one that takes place in a future perhaps only a few years away from where we are now. A grim fate awaits humankind somewhere down the road and the audience is left to decide if it’s one they want to try and steer away from. I think that the play is ridiculous, but before you tune out, I need to stress that I don’t mean that as a negative. Conspiracy stories by their very nature are ridiculous because the characters in them are extrapolating their circumstances in all kinds of improbable ways. Everything seems crazy to us until the characters’ worst fears are proven to be true. The world is out to get them after all. I bring this up because yes, Last Catastrophist is ridiculous, but it uses its ridiculousness in a knowing way. It leans into it to find its own unique sensibility and unpack the comic possibilities. That’s what’s kind of exciting about it. For the bulk of its run time (more on that in a bit), the theatrical stars of direction, performance, design and writing are aligning in a wonderful kind of way and the production hits on something fresh.

Fresh Ink’s ‘Last Catastrophist’ Looks for Answers in Bleak Future

January 26, 2020January 30, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

By Julie-Anne Whitney

‘Last Catastrophist’ – Written by David Valdes; Directed by Sarah Gazdowicz; Sound Design by Vinny Laino; Lighting Design by Read Davidson; Costume Design by Erica Desautels; Scenic Design by Andrew Kolifrath; Dramaturgy by Sarah Schnebly; Fight Choreography by Marge Dunn; Stage Managed by Sam O’Brien. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre, this world premiere production runs through February 8, 2020 at the Plaza Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts.

According to National Geographic, Climatology is “the study of climate and how/why it changes over time.” Climatologists – not to be confused with meteorologists (who study the weather and weather forecasting) – study the Earth’s climate by collecting and analyzing data from sources such as ice, soil, water, air, and plants to find patterns in weather and understand how those patterns affect the environment.

Fresh Ink’s ‘Girlish’ – Young Women to Watch

February 8, 2019February 9, 2019 michaelhoban1 Comment

(Atlee Jensen and Willa Eigo in Frsh Ink’s “Girlish”)

By Linda Chin

‘Girlish’ – Written by Alexa Derman; Directed by Melanie Garber; Scenic Design by Michelle Sparks; Lighting Design by Harrison Pearse Burke; Costume Design by Liz Fenstermaker; Sound Design by Benjamin Finn. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at the Plaza Blackbox at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St., Boston through February 16

Greater Boston’s theater companies do not generally plan their seasons in concert with each other, so in the cornucopia of play offerings by companies large, mid-size and small, professional/commercial and fringe, it is a jackpot when multiple stories featuring underrepresented demographics make it to the stage. With the Lyric Stage’s recent production of The Wolves, Company One-ART’s co-production of Miss You Like Hell, and Fresh Ink’s current production of Girlish, 2019 has already been a theatrical trifecta of teenage coming-of-age stories featuring very talented theater artists.

Fresh Ink Theatre Sees Green with Heritage Hills

May 17, 2018May 20, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Heritage Hill Naturals’ – Written by Francisca Da Silveira. Directed by Phaedra Michelle Scott. Dramaturg: Sarah Schnebly. Assistant Director: G Cadogan. Scenic Design: Abby Shenker. Lighting Design: Emily Bearce. Costume Design: Stephanie K. Brownell. Prop Design: Cesara Walters. Sound Design: Lee Schuna. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, Deane Hall, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston, through May 26, 2018

A millennial is an odd creature, or at least that’s what we’re told. I happen to be one (born in 1988, which puts me in the middle of the pack), but the way the generation is described in media, I sometimes get the feeling that we’re seen as a separate species rather than an age group. We’re growing up, though, and like the Boomers, the Yuppies, and the Gen Xer’s before us, we’re encountering a world with a very specific set of problems. And like those other generations, the artists among us will start to tell stories of what it was like to come of age at the time we did. Fresh Ink Theatre’s new show, Heritage Hill Naturals by Francisca Da Silveira, now playing at the Boston Center for the Arts, could be seen as one such entry into that canon, though it may first need a little more work.

Fresh Ink Theatre Invites You to Meet the Echo Family

February 7, 2018February 7, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Review by James Wilkinson

Nomad Americana – Written by Kira Rockwell. Director: Damon Krometis. Assistant Director: Sloth Levine. Dramaturg: Sara Brookner. Scenic Design: Baron E. Pugh. Lighting Design: Jess Krometis. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Prop Design: Elizabeth Cahill. Dialect Consultant: Elizabeth Milanovich. Fight Choreographer: Margaret Clark; Special Education Consultant: Erin Ronder Neves. Presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre 949 Commonwealth Ave, Boston through February 18, 2018.

All hail the family unit, that rich treasure box of theatrical possibilities playwrights have been mining material from since the days of Medea and Oedipus Rex. We’re a few thousand years removed from those theatrical mainstays, but playwrights up through Eugene O’Neil, Sam Shepard and Paula Vogel have continually found new ways to break apart and examine familial bonds and their effects. To what extent are we our parents? How do we become our own individuals without shattering our ties to our family? Is that even possible? These are some of the questions playwright Kira Rockwell is contending with in her new play Nomad Americana, now being presented by Fresh Ink Theatre at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. The play is a loving look at a family as one woman begins to wonder what’s next for her.