A woman paralyzed by fear. What is haunting her?
Dan Hunter creates an intriguing mystery about family, memory, sickness, secrets and science within a trio of skilled neuroscientists in ‘Black Cat.’ It keeps you guessing who is telling the truth until the very end.
Directed insightfully by Steven Bogart and produced by Hathalee Higgs, Hunter Higgs LLC presented Dan Hunter’s mystery drama ‘Black Cat’ as an Incubator and Visiting production live and in person at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 28. The production ran approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Click here for more information.
Boston University’s Boston Playwrights’ Theatre provided a perfect setting for this production which took place inside a university neuroscience laboratory in the near future of November 2026. Cristina Todesco’s detailed and commercial dual level set design featured realistic lab workspaces with a white board strewn with calculations, brimming file cabinets, a wooden staircase connecting each floor and an impressive kitchenette off the second floor. Zachary Connell’s mercurial and multipurpose lighting with Aubrey Dube’s screeching and foreboding piano-infused sound design augments the fluctuating intensity of each scene.
Christopher James Webb as Dr. Gideon Wells states, “In science, you need vision, money and time.” When University research grants and funds for Parkinson’s disease are running out, time is of the essence to find a way to move forward, especially after Wells claims to have made a startling discovery. Black Cat featured a trio of skilled scientists seemingly striving for the well being of the lab and the university. Yet, other motivations soon come to light. As each character confronts one another, a number of pieces fall into place.
Adrienne Krstansky delivers a layered performance as anxious and witty Dr. Clare Eccles who has just learned she has won the Hall of Fame for her research. She is the head of the department and yet has been guarded, moody and holes herself in her office. Krstansky has previously demonstrated her ample skills in a memorable performance of Gloucester Stage Company’s The Glass Menagerie and it is wonderful to see her again. Krstanky strikes a convincing poker face as she attempts to keeps her fears and escalating state at bay.
Christopher James Webb roars as complicated neuroscientist Dr. Gideon Wells. Webb steers this meaty character with finesse from avid listener to domineering, conceited, condescending and cagey. Both Wells and Eccles are wildly intelligent and share a long history. It is fascinating to see how they bicker, compete, reminisce and get under one another’s skin.
Thickening the plot is Liz Eng as clever, determined and ambitious post doctoral neuroscientist Chai Lin Anderson caught in the middle of Wells and Eccles which forces her to make her own difficult choices. Anderson’s encounters with Wells and Eccles range from nurturing to threatening and Eng levelheadedly handles herself with diplomacy. She carefully and cleverly hedges her bets between Wells and Eccles while navigating her own enigmatic motivations behind the scenes.
Boasting a mix of drama and dry humor, Black Cat deftly creates a number of suspicions and illusions as this trio in crisis endures the fears of what the future holds for them. Black Cat is also a snapshot into memory, the inaccessible causes of dementia and Parkinson’s disease which affect so many, and raises a number of questions in which some purposefully go unanswered. It is a production that will leave you still pondering these three compelling characters long after the show is over.
Directed insightfully by Steven Bogart and produced by Hathalee Higgs, Hunter Higgs LLC presented Dan Hunter’s mystery drama ‘Black Cat’ as part of the live and in person at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 28. Click here for more information.
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