Flat Earth’s ‘X’ Bends Time and Reality

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(David Anderson, Cassandra Meyer ponder their fate in Flat Earth’s ‘X’)

by Mike Hoban

‘X’ – Written by Alistair McDowall; Directed by Lindsay Eagle; Scenic Design by Darren Cornell; Costume Design by Erica Desautels; Lighting Design by Connor S. Van Ness; Sound Design by Kyle Lampe; Special Effects Design by Lynn Wilcott. Presented by Flat Earth Theatre at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown through November 16

As someone who can feel disconnected simply by being on the other side of the country on a business trip, it’s unfathomable to imagine the level of disorientation and longing that the characters in X, Alistair McDowall’s ambitious and perplexing space drama now being given its New England premiere by Flat Earth, must feel. Stranded literally billions of miles from home on a scientific exploration mission to Pluto and cut off from contact with Mother Earth as they await their rescue, X takes the horror of the abandonment that preschoolers experience when Mommy and Daddy mix up their daycare pickup assignments and put it on a megadose of steroids.

Flat Earth Introduces You To…’Not Medea’

March 24, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*(Juliet Bowler in Flat Earth’s ‘Not Medea’)*

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Not Medea’ – Written by Allison Gregory. Directed by Elizabeth Yvette Ramirez. Set Design: Ben Lieberson. Costume Design: Elizabeth Krah. Props Design: Jake Scaltreto. Lighting Design: Connor Van Ness. Sound Design/Composer: Kyle Lampe. Graphic Designer: Jake Scaltreto. Presented by Flat Earth Theatre at the Black Box at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown through March 30

The levels of irony present in the title of Allison Gregory’s play, Not Medea, are truly awe-inspiring. The play is currently being staged by Flat Earth Theatre and even now, a few days after having seen the show, I’m still marveling at just how perfect a title it is (there’s more to the production than the title, but it seems as good a place as any to start). For you see, the production we’re seeing is, quite literally, not Medea. At least, it’s not Euripides’ ancient Greek drama, Medea. Gregory’s play, however, does follow the story of Medea, albeit from a slightly different angle. Here we meet a woman who is…not Medea, but whose story begins to run parallel to the Greek Medea to the point where the lines between the two begin to blur and intersect. So while, yes, this might not be the Medea we’ve previously encountered, it’s a modern-day Medea that is of our own time in the way that Euripides’ play was of his.

Flat Earth’s “Fat Pig” Artfully Combines Pain, Laughter

June 19, 2017June 24, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Mike Hoban

“Fat Pig” Written by Neil LaBute. Directed by Juliet Bowler. Presented by The Flat Earth Theatre at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, through June 24.

Flat Earth Theatre follows up their luminous (and Elliot Norton Award–winning) Silent Sky with another first-rate production, Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig, playing through next weekend (June 24). This dark dramedy details the unlikely romance between plus-sized librarian Helen, and Tom, a handsome (and thin) up-and-coming corporate guy. The two meet by chance in a crowded restaurant and the mutual attraction is evident early on, as Helen’s disarming and sexually-tinged wit draws Tom in, and he quickly finds himself smitten.