economy

REVIEW:  Money is king in Maggie Kearnan’s ‘How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos’ at Boston Playwrights Theatre

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

How much is that going to be?

Let’s talk about billionaires, gargantuan amounts of money and how to use it.

At least, that is what Becca A Lewis as sleuth Forbes journalist Cherry Beaumont has on her mind in a mysterious interview with Jeff Bezos as he faces a federal case against him in the year 2030.  Accompanied by narrator and fact checker Robbie Rodriguez at the ready, How NOT to Save the World with Mr. Bezos is a deep dive into wealth, envy, greed, and blind rage as lines gradually blur between fact, falsehood and fiction. 

With unsteady direction by Taylor Stark, Boston Playwrights Theatre presents Maggie Kearnan’s How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos at Boston Playwrights Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, November 24.  This interactive production contains graphic adult themes and runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

Boston Playwrights Theatre’s Fall Rep Festival features two new productions from living authors taking place on one stage and scenic designer Maggie Shivers certainly makes distinctive use of the space for two vastly different productions.  Multicolor light streams through adjustable windows in a modern office setting but Courtney Licata’s props are the real kicker which includes red solo cups.   Anna Drummond’s immersive sound design with Zachary Connell’s foreshadowing light design proves effective as the production intensifies.

Mark W Soucy in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘How to NOT Save the World with Mr Bezos’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

With a biting and abrupt laugh and in a vest which seems more like a life preserver, Mark W. Soucy depicts a confident, expeditious yet preoccupied Bezos full of humble brags and word play until the stakes get high.  Lewis as Cherry is lively, amusing and occasionally unhinged in a three piece suit and black sneakers.  Soucy and Lewis spar with engaging flair as both vie for the upper hand as impressive fact checker Robbie Rodriguez works overtime taking the audience temporarily in and out of the production to clarify each character’s statements. 

Mark W Soucy and Becca A Lewis in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

How to NOT Save the World is fueled by some jaw dropping facts about wealth and offers quite the perspective of how much money billionaires really possess.  Among some of the most fascinating are it would take 570 years to spend Bezos’s wealth if Bezos spent 1 million dollars a day or the value of a 430,000 house means just 32 cents to him.  It also offers even handed facts about Bezos’s life.  At one time, he was the most powerful person in the world. 

Mark W Soucy Becca A Lewis and Robbie Rodriguez in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘How to NOT Save the World with Mr Bezos’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

However, the show begins to veer off course and some of the most absurd parts of the production, which infuses a classic tune, do not seem to fall as they should and comes off rather unnecessarily as the interview takes an unexpected turn. 

Becca A Lewis and Mark W Soucy in Boston Playwrights Theatre’s ‘How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos’ Photo by Benjamin Rose Photography

Amazon executives have a room where they can let out a primal scream during the holiday season and by the end of the production, I was ready to do so, but not for the reason the show encourages.  As one toils at work especially with this inflation, it is difficult for the average person to get ahead.   As satirical as the show may suggest, it relies on a society so enraged it cannot see past its most base instincts to supersede every other reasonable thought and bereft of hope for a bleak future.  Shouldn’t humanity get more credit than that?

Boston Playwrights Theatre presents Maggie Kearnan’s How to NOT Save the World with Mr. Bezos live and in person at Boston Playwrights Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, November 24.  This interactive production contains adult themes and runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

REVIEW:  ‘34 Carmine Street,’ featured at the New York City Indie Film Festival, gets to the heart of small business

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

You’ve Got Mail, a hit film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, explores the virtues and survival of a small business bookstore up against a number of factors including corporate bookstore chains.  Small bookstore owner Kathleen Kelly and her fictional Shop around the Corner is embraced by the community for its rich history, Kelly’s unique personality reflected in every aspect of her bookstore including the storefront, her handpicked books, and the selection of readers and performers that appear at her store.  Every aspect is meticulously designed to make a particular impression for the customer.  The Shop around the Corner’s small but knowledgeable staff would not only know each handpicked book by heart and personally assist you in making a selection, but probably knows most of their devoted customers not only by name, but as a friend.

Supporting small business has not only always been a prevalent topic, but has gained that much more significance in the last few years, especially during the height of the pandemic.  Corporate business, rising real estate prices, the tough economy, and many other factors continuously impact the survival of small businesses and without more support, they often get left in the dust. 

34 Carmine Street was part of the Documentary 14 series featured at the New York City Indie Film Festival that continued through June 19 in person at the Producers Club in New York City.  Curated by Gerard van den Broek, Documentary 14 series also included documentary films Cinema and Sanctuary and Trash Day.

The New York City Indie Film Festival featured a variety of films from shorts to narratives to documentaries curated with common themes.  Sleepless Critic had the opportunity to review screenings on music, small businesses, love and connection and much more. 

Co-founded by Executive Director Dennis Cieri and Director Bonnie Rush, this renowned festival has screened thousands of films since it was first launched in 2010.  Click here for more information, film submissions for next year, and click here to see what we had to say about NYC Indie Film Festival’s Narrative 14 series and here for what we had to say about the films in the Documentary 12 series.

Photo credit to the New York City Indie Film Festival

Directed insightfully by Beatriz Browne, renowned short documentary 34 Carmine Street makes a strong argument not only for the survival of a historic and strong minded Greenwich Village bookstore and other unique, longtime small businesses on that street, but encapsulates what makes small businesses an irreplaceable part of the community without being preachy or political.  It digs deep into a part of Greenwich Village’s history where these small businesses have survived for decades while always having something significant to say about the world.  It may also change your mind about where you shop next.

34 Carmine Street, Cinema and Sanctuary, and Trash Day were all part of Documentary 14 at the New York City Indie Film Festival which continued through June 19 in person at the Producers Club.  Click here for more information on this annual festival and its winners.