5/05/26: The Emporium
What: Classic Stage Company presents Thornton Wilder's unfinished final play about a young orphaned man who dreams of working at an enigmatic department store called The Emporium. Everything is profoundly metatheatrical and self-aware.
And? It's pretty slow, and requires patience for the way in which the story is told. A number of people left at intermission, so it's definitely not for everyone, but I was interested enough to stick around for the whole show. Some of the self-awareness gets a bit twee, and I do wish we could have had Wilder's full intended version of the play, rather than this combination of his drafts and notes and Kirk Lynn's completion of the script. It's a bittersweet exploration of idealism and compromise, and the eternal promise of trying again, and maybe getting it right next time. It lands a bit unsatisfactorily at the end, but I'm still glad I saw the show.
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| Eva Kaminsky, Derek Smith, Candy Buckley, and Mahira Kakkar. Photo by Marc J. Franklin. |
5/06/26: The Fear of 13
What: Based on David Sington's documentary, Lindsey Ferrentino's play traces volunteer Jacki Miles's series of visits to Nick Yarris, a man on death row for a murder he claims he didn't commit. Through their conversations, both in person and later over the phone, the play offers a non-linear lookback on the tumultuous youth of Yarris and the poor decisions that led him to spending two decades in prison.
And? David Cromer truly is an excellent director, consistently crafting ensembles into one beautifully cohesive entity, all telling the same story and in the same world (this may sound like a "duh Zelda, that's what directing is," but the last time I saw Tessa Thompson on stage, she and her costars were all awful and because they were all awful in the same way, I blame that director). Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson do excellent work leading the cast, both performers offering quietly understated but deeply felt portrayals of Nick and Jacki. There's one scene in particular, as they're both struggling to keep that stiff upper lip in the face of a new devastation, that just broke my heart. It's also always a treat to see Ephraim Sykes and Eddie Cooper onstage, albeit in small roles, especially when they're able to let their voices fly. Arnulfo Maldonado's scenic design, especially under Heather Gilbert's precise lighting, is evocating and haunting without overwhelming the story being told (but goddamn, that one stool ... the final moment with that stool kind of wrecked me). The play itself inside these strong storytelling elements is fine, though some moments feel shoehorned in to achieve faithful adherence to the narrative of the documentary, rather than taking narrative liberties that come with any adaptation, to tell a coherent story.
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| The cast of The Fear of 13. Photo by Emilio Madrid. |
5/07/26: The Censorship of Dreams
What: La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club presents Nora Sørena Casey's new play about a time, not too far from now, when society exists under an increasingly restricted vocabulary: citizens, with no memory of the time before the Restart, go to the "Post Office" to sell their dreams, and receive daily words on little slips of paper, to eat and immediately forget. The stated goal is the erasure of conflict and dissatisfaction, but the central couple, Thomas and Ellie, struggle to navigate their relationship with each other and with the world, when they have fewer and fewer words with which to do so.
And? full review here.
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| Jess Dugger as Ellie and Kat Warnusz-Steckel as Professional. Photo by Marina Levitskaya. |
5/08/26: The Totality of All Things
What: UP Theater Company presents Erik Gernand's play about a smalltown high school rocked by a hate crime: a swastika painted over the bulletin board celebrating the legalization of gay marriage, in the classroom of the one loudly liberal teacher in a largely conservative town.
And? The play's exploration of tribalism across the political spectrum is both prescient and tame, compared to how much worse discourse has gotten in the decade since this story takes place (autumn, 2015). The characters here know they have different world views and try politely to talk around them, knowing that if they get too close to acknowledging the gap, their relationships, both professional and personal, will collapse in anger and betrayal. And indeed they do. Though I imagine the majority of the audience (this being a downtown show in New York) errs more on the side of journalism teacher Judith's liberal worldview, her refusal to countenance the humanity of those with whom she disagrees ends up alienating everyone around her, even those to whom she thinks she is an ally. Her tunnel vision takes over, and her conviction that she is on the righteous path prevents her from seeing the harm she does until it is too late. But everyone here is messy in the way interesting plays with thought-provoking conversations always are. Another teacher, Gregg, advocates for giving teenagers a second chance for what he considers youthful transgressions, but doesn't realize that his extended grace to the perpetrators leaves their victims exposed and injured. Principal Benson attempts to be the diplomat, having to manage the strong emotions not only of faculty and students but also a noisy schoolboard, but finds his middle ground approach leaves both sides feeling angry and unheard. There are no clean wins here, but the biggest loss is the collapse of communication: journalism student Micah attempts to achieve that with his article on the incident, but his compassion is eliminated when Judith strikes his commentary arguing for conversation over condemnation, outing the student in the process. The cast here is great, particularly DeAnna Lenhart's warm and practical DeeAnn, Joseph Dean Anderson's gently nonconfrontational Gregg, and Cody Jenison's sweetly uncertain Micah. Director Shannon Patterson brings out a naturalism and rhythm to the ensemble that is unfortunately rare in Off-Off productions, but reaps excellent rewards here. Each character feels like a person trying to speak their truth, trying to sort their understanding of the crisis, rather than a performative overlay or a stiffness that comes from the a lack of community worldbuilding.
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| Joseph Dean Anderson as Gregg, DeAnna Lenhart as DeeAnn, Colleen Clinton as Judith, and Logan Floyd as Ms. Carter. Photo by Mikiodo. |
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