What: MCC presents Anne Washburn's newest play. In a suburb of San Antonio, a middle aged gay couple moves into a neighborhood across the street from a family whose matriarch is knee-deep in the QAnon conspiracy swamp. As paranoia grows in both households, a violent confrontation feels more and more inevitable under the flashing lightning and booming thunder of a gathering storm.
And? This is pretty great. The overlay of the teenage daughter's work with King Lear is perhaps not subtle, but it is consistently satisfying; and her discussion of the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy sheds a perspective on how broken down online discourse has become that I hadn't actually considered before. A soliloquy isn't a conversation, like a monologue can be. Neither is a screed on X or a conspiracy-laden TikTok. They're bellowing into a void or at an imagined audience. As act two opened, I did one of those knowing chuckles of "ah right, this is an Anne Washburn play," but don't want to spoil more than that. At the end of the play, well ... I didn't realize we were at the end of the play. But otherwise I thought it was pretty great theater.
dots's scenic design is an interestingly spare and liminal space: a long wooden kitchen table in a room bare of other furniture or any art on the wall. To either side of the room, half-behind a scrim are cardboard boxes, but the question remains if the families are moving in or moving out, or--in the case of Jeanie's family--never quite finished moving in a year later. The concept for Cha See's lighting design is less clear to me. The general illumination of the space is fine, but I was continually distracted by the columns of round lights framing the space, and the significance of which lights were lit at different times. I didn't manage to resolve this by the end of the production, but I'm assuming it didn't distract anyone who isn't the kind of nerd I am. Good cast all around, especially Crystal Finn as the strident Jeanie and Izabel Mar as her outspoken daughter.
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| Izabel Mar as Delia and Crystal Finn as Jeanie. Photo by Monique Carboni. |
10/01/26: Burning Leaves
What: TOSOS presents the world premiere of Tom Rowan's play about Matt, a former New York actor, seeks a new start as a high school drama teacher in a small town in Illinois. As he attempts to engage the children on local events by encouraging them to craft a devised docuplay about the question of a nuclear power plant being built in their dying factory town, he encounters Jesse, a troubled young student with acting potential but a strong resistance to engagement as he wrestles with his sexuality.
And? full review here.
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| Foreground: Campbell Idol as Jesse. Background: Sophie Tanabaum as Hallie, Becky Rusch as Alicia, and Brady Dalton Richards as Matt. Photo by Mikiodo. |
10/02/26: Degenerates
What: Playwrights Horizons presents Else Went's play about an incel discord of three lonely souls, with the question of how worth it is it to exist in this world with no one to see or love them.
And? In the program note, playwright Else Went asks the audience to consider the question of rescue from the kind of toxic thinking in the incel internet spaces, where women are dehumanized, "lower tier" men are degraded, and often violence or self-harm results from these stewings. Do we pity these people? Do we despise them? Do we try to love them anyway? It's very impressive how Went is able to guide us through these questions, particularly as our answers keep changing. Zachary Desmond, as host of the discord, is sharp and unforgiving online, but affectingly vulnerable and scared in person. Christopher Dylan White's Target is a blend of innocence and seduction. The meeting of these two seems at first to perhaps be a rescue for both, but Miller's insecurities take over and his abrasive programing dominates. As more sinister intents behind his rhetoric become clear, the other members of the discord must decide if it's better to live alone online or to attempt to be outside--to try, even if they fail, to make a connection.
This play was fantastic and I fucking loved it. Every damn element.
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| Zachary Desmond as Miller and Christopher Nowell Felix as Target. Photo by Jackie Abbott. |
10/03/26: Slam Frank
What: Orpheum Theatre hosts the encore production of the irreverent satirical depiction of Anne Frank.
And? full review here.
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| Olivia Bernábe as Anita and Walker Tovall as ASM. Photo by Shawn Salley Photography. |
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