Following the recent Tony-winning run of Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, the plan for that Manhattan Theatre Club production of the comedy had been to transfer from Broadway to the Kennedy Center. But then Trump and his arts czar Richard Grenell happened, and the Kennedy Center engagement of director Anna D. Shapiro’s show was abruptly canceled, purportedly due to “financial circumstances.”
Addressing the cancellation in a Deadline interview, Spector took the situation in stride. “I don’t exactly know how it went down but I was, in the end, relieved that we weren’t going there,” said the playwright.
Ironically, whoever is going there now might have appreciated on a myriad of levels Spector’s scathing satire of ultra-liberals and the societies they create. Those patrons can make their way over to Theater J, where artistic director Hayley Finn has staged a buoyant production that captures the witty voice of the play in its sharply drawn cast of characters and well-designed and executed technical elements.
Regardless of political leanings, anyone could appreciate the script’s incisive humor, as well as the plot revolving around the parents at Eureka Day School, a bougie, Berkeley, California elementary school feverishly navigating an outbreak of the mumps.
The five parents who make up the school’s executive board committee are a diverse lot, though all seemingly devoted to the Eureka Day community’s policies of equity and inclusion, and other progressive values. Those ideals are sorely tested by this health crisis that affects everyone, but not equally.
A gaping ideological divide separates those who vaccinate their children from those who don’t, and, as the executive committee has to come to consensus on a vaccine policy going forward, someone will be left unhappy.
There are also sure to be stark winners and losers in the decision on whether to keep the school open for the vaccinated kids who meet the Health Department code, or close the school for everyone, so the unvaccinated kids aren’t left behind.
These are knotty conundrums, prompting comical altercations among parents Eli (Jonathan Feuer), Don (Eric Hissom), Meiko (Lilli Hokama), Suzanne (Susan Rome), and Carina (Renee Elizabeth Wilson). We meet them in the midst of a lively debate over admissions-form drop-down menus, an amuse-bouche of a scene before the meaty main course of debate over vaccine policy.
The vaccine fight virtually hits the roof during a highly contentious “community-activated conversation,” or school-wide Zoom meeting, that spirals hilariously out of control. The executive committee, led by a less-than-tech-savvy Don, tries to manage the meeting in-person, with dozens of other parents logged in remotely.
The highlight here is a video screen onstage displaying the virtual meeting Chat box, filling up with absolutely perfectly worded Chat-speak that captures the ridiculousness of people arguing online.
The onscreen timing of those messages also has to be close to perfect, in order to coordinate with the actors onstage and maintain the comic rhythm. Projections designer Kelly Coburn and the production crew more than hold up their end of the bargain.
The well-oiled ensemble keeps the ball bouncing, and each member creates a vivid characterization from Spector’s brilliant script, abetted by Jeannette Christensen’s very precise costumes. The entire production runs with precision from start to its strong finish, while keeping everyone involved in the thought-provoking conversation, wherever your political loyalties might lie.
Eureka Day (★★★★☆) runs through April 5, at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets are $40 to $90. Call 202-777-3210, or visit theaterj.org.
If the Shakespeare Theatre Company's On Beckett is a love letter, then Round House's own one-man show, Nothing Up My Sleeve...Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans is more of a love affair, this time with the magic of sleight of hand.
Recounted and performed by Dendy, previously seen to great effect as the mysterious Ariel in The Tempest, this is a coming-of-age story magician-style, which, not surprisingly, includes a parade of tricks marking the milestones of his journey.
Dendy's chosen moments as he goes from shy kid in rural Missouri to talented professional are engaging and filled with an appealingly self-deprecating humor. But what lifts Nothing Up My Sleeve into some interesting territory is the performer's perspective on the watched and the watcher. Magic, he contemplates, is an intimate exchange -- a very human kind of conversation: it can be fun, mischievous, and joyous, but occasionally it can be sobering. Put simply, its currency is a very singular kind of trust.
The second half of the theater season always feels like the downhill rush of a roller coaster, a new hill coming into view just as you hit the dip, as local venues begin the time-honored ritual of announcing their upcoming seasons. Still, our focus here is on what's about to bloom -- and this year, that bloom is as big and bold as it gets.
A highlight is Shakespeare Theatre Company, showcasing Hamnet (no, not the movie), Suzy Eddie Izzard in a tour-de-force one-person Hamlet, and the great Wendell Pierce in the title role of Othello. (Pierce joins a notable Othello lineage at STC -- including, for those who remember, Patrick Stewart and Avery Brooks.)
What a hullabaloo. There was the book, then the play, and now there is the movie (with an Oscar-winning performance). Hamnet is, as the iconic VISA ad said, everywhere you want to be.
People, it seems, just can't get enough of this Shakespeare-adjacent imagining of the Bard's family life. And the airwaves are veritably humming with the question of what one should read, see, or experience live, first. The truth is, anyone who feels they need to catch the Hamnet wave should be able to start anywhere. Book, film, or play -- each should be capable of standing on its own two feet. Unfortunately, the production by the Royal Shakespeare Company, now at The Shakespeare Theatre, is less standing than crawling around on its knees.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.