Pick your pals and your communities because we are going to really need each other over the next few years. Picking your pals also means choosing who you listen to, read and admire. A myriad of versions of what’s going on right now are flourishing, so you need to find the narrative threads you can trust.
I find resonance with Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Hubbell, Joyce Vance, Anand Giridharadas, Anat Shenker-Osorio, Kara Swisher, Katie Drummond, Chris Murphy. HRC’s recommendation for how any one of us can fight autocracy—”be joyful, and do what you love with other people”—has been my motto. But now it is being augmented with Shenker-Osorio’s reminder to “do, don’t just say.” Her mantra is a memorable one: “Watch me fabulously fighting Fascism!”
My best moments since the election have taken place in community, sharing what I love with others who do too. That’s how it feels at a jammed art opening. Watching the Celtics with other passionate fans. Taking a seat in a theater next to strangers where we all have agreed to take an adventure in storytelling together. We are pals of a particular kind.
At this moment Boston just happens to have has some terrific opportunities where you can share a collective connection. What follows is my praise for local theater productions I happen to have caught. Given the state of our world right now, I don’t feel as inclined to unpack, analyze or parse. Instead I will simply share the pleasures that have come my way, and hope some of these resonate for you too.
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The Odyssey
Loeb Theater, Cambridge
Through March 16
Unless you are a classics scholar (for whom fiddling with an ancient text is never OK, Mon Dieu!) this production delights as it breaks that famous post Trojan War narrative wide open. Kate Hamill, actor and successful adaptor of classical works, takes this deeply male-centric narrative and tells it “slant” (thank you Emily Dickinson.) In this version, women are actual protagonists, no longer just a backdrop to Odysseus’ protracted journey back to Ithaca. In Hamill’s telling, both the men and the women are presented as flawed humans, wounded and struggling from the aftermath of war. “It is a story about the generational and cyclical repercussions of violence — and how we can learn to embrace healing and forgiveness, even in the face of civilization-shaking traumas.” (Hamill)
So let go of that notion of a cloistered virtue version of Penelope, and the brilliant, ever resourceful Odysseus. Of course Penelope would want to consider her options, and of course Odysseus would be holding trauma from so much conflict, bloodshed and death. This version of the story dismantles superficial memes like warrior invincibility and compliant, docile females.
This more “close to the bone” telling of that tale is not all Sturm und Drang however. The set is visually engaging, and the staging is full of playful enchantment and surprise.
Everyone I know who has seen it has been enthusiastic, and many brought their kids along as well. So hold Don Aucoin’s yawn of a review in the Boston Globe at a distance.
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The Grove
The Huntington Calderwood, Boston
Through March 9
The monumental unfolding of the Ufot Family Cycle by Mfoniso Udofia continues, and the energy in her family saga is expanding. Following the Huntington’s performance of the initial play in the cycle, Sojourners, The Grove brings us forward in time: a young woman writer must claim her truth within a closely knit family that holds its traditions tightly. The performers in The Grove are all explosively great, and the set is evocative in the way it captures the multidimensional voices we hear–some from this reality, and some from another.
The energy, excitement and passion present at the world premiere on Wednesday night was one of the most exciting moments of my theater-going life.
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Art
Lyric Stage Theater, Boston
Through March 16
Yasmina Reza wrote this play in 1994, but it feels completely relevant for this moment in time. Reza uses the conundrums of contemporary art theory as a flame throw to expose issues and complexities that exist below the surface for three male friends. Played by Remo Airaldi, Michael Kaye and John Kuntz, this ensemble of gifted actors skillfully ensnares us into a tangle of emotions, vulnerabilities and needs. Who says men don’t talk about relationships? These three do!
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Yellow Face
Eliot Hall, Jamaica Plain
How did I not know about the Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain until now?
“The Footlight Club is America’s oldest community theater and has produced performances every year since 1877.”
Well, my bad. But it is on my radar now.
Yellow Face, written by David Henry Hwang in 2007, is another play that is highly relevant for this moment in time. It explores race, family, identity, immigration, cultural appropriation and misappropriation. The production is ambitious and sophisticated.
I’m writing too late for you to see this production (it ended last Saturday) but do catch upcoming shows by this community theater with its serious pedigree.
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And one more: Coming this weekend!
Beastly
BCA Plaza Theaters, Boston
Friday February 28
Saturday March 1
Sunday matinee, March 2
Back by popular demand! Beastly will be performed three more times this coming weekend.
I was knocked out the first time I saw Melissa Hale Woodman’s performance of Beastly last October.
In my words:
“Woodman’s Beastly is an evolving work, one that includes political commentary, personal storytelling, a cast of characters as well as well-crafted verses that feature first person reportage from a few of our cohabitants here on Planet Earth…
Woodman also uses her theatrical moment to ask big questions: What can each of us do to make a better world? What part can each of us personally play? And–as she pointed out–“you can’t make a better world if you don’t believe a better world is possible.”
Woodman sold every seat in the house. She also won over every heart in the house. We came in as strangers but left as a tribe.”
(My full reaction to Beastly can be read here.)
This is a theater performance and a fundraiser, both. Demonstrate your support for community as well as funding good causes. Don’t miss out!