memory

REVIEW:  Stakes are high in Dan Hunter’s intense and enigmatic ‘Black Cat’

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

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.   

The set of Dan Hunter’s ‘Black Cat’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Photo by Ailsa Smith

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. 

Liz Eng and Christopher James Webb in Dan Hunter’s ‘Black Cat’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Photo by Ailsa Smith

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.   

The cast of Dan Hunter’s ‘Black Cat’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Photo by Ailsa Smith

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. 

Christopher James Webb and Liz Eng in Dan Hunter’s ‘Black Cat’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Photo by Ailsa Smith

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. 

Liz Eng and Adrianne Krstanky in Dan Hunter’s ‘Black Cat’ at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Photo by Ailsa Smith

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.

.

REVIEW:  Greater Boston Stage Company’s well-timed ‘Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help’ a comical trip down memory lane

Posted on by The Sleepless Critic

Greater Boston Stage Company chose the perfect time to debut Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  Nestled right through St. Patrick’s Day during Lent (for Catholics), this engaging family comedy delves into the lives of the quirky lower middle class Irish-Catholic O’Shea family during a chaotic and pivotal week in their lives in the 1970s.  It’s a memory play…with a few amusing twists.

From L to R: Vin Vega as Becky, Maureen Keiller as Theresa “Terri” Carmichael, Amy Barker as Jo O’Shea, and Autumn Blazon-Brown as Linda O’Shea Photo courtesy of Greater Boston Stage Company

A semi-autobiographical play written by Katie Forgette and directed by Weylin Symes, Greater Boston Stage Company presents Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help virtually and at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts through March 20.  The show is 1 hour and 45 minutes with intermission and recommended for children ages 13 and up.  Click here for more information and tickets.

It is fascinating how memories work when they are retold, recalled, and recollected.  A fuzzy little detail here and a little change there may make a big difference.  Some of the production’s characters are a bit over the top, but so was the 70s.  Every detail of this show rewinds the clock to a simpler time before the internet, cell phones, and other technological distractions took over.  Deirdre Gerrard pulls together a wonderfully nostalgic and mismatched array of 70s attire from corduroy to bold patterns to star-studded bellbottoms. 

From L to R: Vin Vega as Becky, Autumn Blazon-Brown as Linda, Amy Barker as Jo O’Shea, and Maureen Keiller as Theresa “Terri” Carmichael Photo courtesy of Greater Boston Stage Company

Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help is full of candidness, warmth, and quick pacing much due to the cast’s authentic and believable chemistry as a relatable, flawed, and dysfunctional family.  Tempers flare, judgments are passed often, and the O’Shea family is set in their routines within a meticulously-detailed and functioning wood paneled kitchen plucked straight out of the 70s.  From an afghan blanket on a chair to knickknacks on shelves to photos and notes smattered on a corkboard to greenery gathering in a kitchen window, set designer Shelley Barish’s remarkable blast from the past kitchen lies in the details.

A bossy grandmother, a cheapskate father that works too hard, an exhausted but nurturing mother, a shoot-from-the-hip aunt, and an impressionable daughter all vie for the spotlight breaking the 4th wall and well aware they are in the play.  It flows more like a slice-of-life documentary with most characters eager to speak to the “camera.”

Vin Vega as Becky and Autumn Blazon-Brown as Linda O’Shea Photo courtesy of Greater Boston Stage Company

At the center of this play is somewhat reliable narrator Autumn Blazon-Brown as adorably spunky women’s-lib teenager Linda O’Shea.  Smart yet adventurous, Blazon-Brown shows charming charisma as Linda who, in a moment of frustration, is obnoxious to her impressionable sister Becky to the chagrin of those around her including intimidating Fr. Lovett portrayed with self-righteous glee by Barlow Adamson.  Chaos ensues.   

Amy Barker as Jo O’Shea and Autumn Blazon-Brown as Linda O’Shea Photo courtesy of Greater Boston Stage Company

Adamson is an apt comedian with a wealth of opportunities to show off his dynamic skills during this production.  Vin Vega portrays film-obsessed and imaginative Becky who seems the most sensible among this amiable cast and often along for the ride within the O’Shea high jinx.  Amy Barker portrays a relatable every mom as exhausted but nurturing matriarch Jo O’Shea, but Maureen Keiller, a familiar face having delivered solid past performances in Boston such as in Between Riverside and Crazy, Admissions and The Women, is a gem as Theresa “Terri” Carmichael.  Wisecracking, bold, and often blunt, Keiller shows under Terri’s complicated and tough façade is a loneliness and vulnerability with a fierce loyalty to her family.   A better aunt you will never find.

Greater Boston Stage Company presents Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help virtually and at Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Massachusetts through March 20.  The show is 1 hour and 45 minutes with intermission and recommended for children ages 13 and up.  Click here for more information and tickets.