Weekly Margin 2025, W30: Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Summer Day

7/23/25: Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead

What: Good Crack Productions presents a satirical bent on the 1921 trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

And? full review here.

Matt Ferrera as Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Joey DeFilippis as Nicola Sacco.
Photo by Bay One Entertainment and Kevin Mora.

7/25/25: A Midsummer Night's Dream

What: Ensemble Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare's comedy of love spells, forest sprites, and an amateur theater troupe.

And? full review here.

Streaming Theater

• Wilma Theater's A Summer Day.

Margin Notes: A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Seen on: Friday, 7/25/25.

Plot and Background

Ensemble Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare's comedy of love spells, forest sprites, and an amateur theater troupe.

What I Knew Beforehand

I know Midsummer very well, having acted in it multiple times in various roles.

Thoughts:

This was an absolute delight of a show. I'll admit to being worried: after many years of overexposure to this play, I wasn't sure if I wanted to see another production, but I'm so glad I did. Dylan Diehl (who also, aptly, plays Oberon) directs this production with a deft hand, guiding the cast through the intricate hoops of the overlapping hijinks in the forest as surely as her Oberon puppets both humans and his fairy queen alike to do his bidding. That phrasing makes it seem like I'm not giving the cast enough credit for their work, and I don't mean to: the consistently strong text work, as well as the synergy among all the players, makes it clear this is a united ensemble, joyously performing this fairy tale.

The visual landscape of the production, particularly that of Lauren Helpern's evocative scenic design and Kate Hartigan's stunning costume design, draws homage to Peter Brook's white box version of Athens, while not directly copying it. What becomes clear here is that the pristine white of Theseus's court allows for little joy and even less love. It is only when we venture into the forest that streams of fabric festoon the space with color and possibility, and Oberon and Puck clap powdered dye to the wandering Athenians, until they too are as multihued as their surroundings. Here in the forest they are free to indulge, to escape, to imagine. Here in the forest the "rude mechanicals" come to rehearse and here their rehearsal is dispelled by Puck's manipulations. Bottom, his face painted with enchantment and ass ears on his head becomes the paramour of Queen Titania (her own face painted with Oberon's enchantment). And here it is the complicated love quadrangle of Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena may finally sort itself out, with a little help from the unseen fairies watching them. And so when all return to Athens the next day, these bright colors are allowed to follow them, even influencing Duke Theseus himself to break with his pure white suit to add tapestried belt, tie, and pocket square, to better match his new bride and her hybrid wedding dress.

Margin Notes: Sacco & Vanzetti are Dead!

Sacco & Vanzietti are Dead!

Matt Ferrara as Bartolomeo Vanzetti and
Joey DeFilippis as Nicola Sacco. Photo by
Bay One Entertainment and Kevin Mora.

Seen on: Wednesday, 7/23/25.

Plot and Background

Good Crack Productions presents a satirical bent on the 1921 trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Following a robbery turned murder, two anarchist Italian immigrants are arrested and charged with the crime. Though they proclaim their innocence until the end, the combination of an incompetent showboating defense attorney and a biased judicial and law enforcement system railroads them through their trial and subsequent appeals.

What I Knew Beforehand

Very little, though I did some subsequent reading up on Sacco and Vanzetti's trial.

Thoughts:

Joey DeFilippis and Matt Ferrera, wrote, directed, and star in this production. Clearly a passion project dedicated to redeeming the names of Sacco and Vanzetti, it portrays two victims of a corrupt judicial system (regardless of their guilt or innocence, it is clear that the trial was handled badly). In creating this work, DeFilippis and Ferrara join the ranks of a long-standing advocacy to demand justice: at the time of Sacco and Vanzetti's trial and following, there were global protests--and bombings--as well as celebrities weighing in. Even after the execution of these two men, advocates continued to fight for justice against their persecution. As the Scottsboro Boys would later become a beacon for the Civil Rights Movement, Sacco and Vanzetti were an earlier rallying cry against persecution of political radicals.

The work itself is perhaps a bit uneven: it bills itself as a satire but has yet to develop its point of view beyond the starting point that bigotry is evil. Even so, it plays with humor in an interesting way, mixing anachronistic jokes with over the top clowning. I think the production would be better served by leaning into this angle more aggressively, along the lines of Urinetown or other Brechtian pieces critiquing the status quo. Each moment needs to be sharp and clear for the humor to land, and that in turn will make the pathos, the tragedy of what befell these men, all the more poignant in contrast.

Weekly Margin 2025, W29: Viola's Room

7/16/25: Viola's Room

What: Punchdrunk, the UK company behind the long-running hit Sleep No More, presents a new immersive experience hosted by The Shed. Using a labyrinthine immersive installation and surround-sound piped in over headphones, as well as Helena Bonham-Carter's narration of a dark story of the moon, mazes, and dancing shoes, Viola's Room takes the audience on a hypnotic and magical journey.

And? In case my description didn't make it clear, I LOVED IT. It brought back so many things I love about Punchdrunk: total engagement with the senses, a haunting and bittersweet narrative, a sense of magic and mystery, an unknowableness, and installations and environments with such a precise and piercing attention to detail that takes the breath away. It's an intimate experience--none of the chaos of Sleep No More or Life and Trust, but perhaps more akin to Third Rail's Then She Fell--with only six people in each group, staggered at 15-minute intervals on their journey through the space and story. And at only one hour, it leaves plenty of the evening left for a meal with friends to digest and discuss (I went alone, but I plan to return with friends).

Weekly Margin 2025, W28: Joy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Operation Mincemeat, Call Me Izzy, Purpose, John Proctor is the Villain

7/07/25: Joy

What: A new musical adaptation of the story of Joy Mangano, entrepreneur and inventor who made it big on QVC.

And? It's mid-previews, so I don't know how this show will end up. As it is, Betsy Wolfe is very good, as she always is, finding humor in the understated moments. Most of the characters, outside Joy herself, are underwritten cutout characters. A lot of the songs have a sense of sameness to them (both in sound and content), sitting in the moment rather than advancing things. The best number is "We Sell Stories," the song introducing all the suits at QVC (it really is a lot of fun), and Joshua Bergasse's choreography for it is delightful, but I'm troubled that he saved his best work for the two big male-dominated numbers. The staging for the female-led numbers, by contrast, feels vague and non-committal. I can hope that will get sharpened over previews, but it's a weird thing to see in such a girl-power story.

7/08/25: Pirates! The Penzance Musical

a repeat visit

7/09/25: Operation Mincemeat

a repeat visit

7/10/25: Call Me Izzy

What: Roundabout presents Jamie Wax's one-woman play about a Louisiana poet trapped in an abusive marriage but trying valiantly to hold onto her voice and her love of language. This production stars Jean Smart, but as she has been out with an injury, I saw it with Tony-nominated Johanna Day.

And? The subject matter is unsettling, for sure, but Wax's writing presents a realistic portrait of the conflicting emotions of someone trapped in a relationship like this--including her defensiveness against anyone trying to rescue her from it. The bathroom is Izzy's refuge, once her husband has destroyed her journals. Here she can write, secretly. Here she can tell us her story. Here she can lock the door and be safe, if only for the moment, if only while he sleeps. It's very hard to watch, but it's very worth the watch. Johanna Day is remarkable as Izzy and--except for one moment of calling line--you'd never know she hadn't been playing the role this whole time.

Jean Smart as Izzy. Photo by Emilio Madrid.

7/11/25: Purpose

a repeat visit

7/12/25: John Proctor is the Villain

a repeat visit

Weekly Margin 2025, W27: Lowcountry

6/02/25: Lowcountry

What: Atlantic Theater presents the world premiere of Abby Rosebrock's play about a Tinder date where secrets continue to reveal themselves as facades drop one by one. I'm trying not to give too much away here because twisty-turny.

And? For most of the play, I was thinking "this is fine, they're doing solid work and there's tension, but I don't know how invested I am in either of these characters winning out." But the ending packs a punch and ultimately makes the evening worth it.

Babak Tafti and Jodi Balfour as David and Tally. Photo by Ahron R. Foster.