In anticipation of Hub Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, Theater Mirror sat down with director Bryn Boice and the producing artistic director of Hub Theatre Company, Lauren Elias. We discussed the importance of absurdism in 2026, how to be recognized by directors, a surprising anecdote involving a Saturday Night Live alum, and, of course, Hub Theatre Company’s upcoming theatrical offering.
Charlotte Snow: So, what drew you to The Bald Soprano and The Lesson?
Bryn Boice: Well, I have a loving history with The Bald Soprano. When I was a young theatre student in undergrad in the 90s, I had spent almost 4 years working on my craft, but not really understanding why I was taking a lot of these classes. I was from the Midwest; I didn’t have a lot of art around me. So, I was like, “This isn’t familiar to me, but I’m just going to do it.” It hadn’t sunk into me, truly, what the art form was. And then my movement teacher directed a production of The Bald Soprano, and when I was watching it, I felt like I had been buffering. The little wheel had been spinning for years and years and years, and watching that, everything felt like it downloaded, it synthesized. It was literally an in-the-moment flash of understanding of what he had been trying to teach me all these years. In the coming weeks, I was able to perform my schoolwork for him, and he was like, “What has happened to you? You suddenly get it.” And I was like, “I saw your show! I get it!” So, something clicked in me that I must be an artist. And so, when Lauren and I were talking about what we might do with Hub, I just was like, I felt like at this moment, in our absurd world that we’re living in, we need this kind of play.
Charlotte Snow: When did you decide to bill them as a double feature?
Bryn Boice: The Lesson is often paired with The Bald Soprano as a double bill. They have been paired together in Paris at this little theater, Théâtre de la Huchette, since 1957. It holds the world record for the longest play production at a single theater. The Bald Soprano really is a one-act, as is The Lesson, and when we were talking about doing them, we read them back-to-back. I felt like they spoke to each other. The Bald Soprano is about the breakdown of meaning, and The Lesson is the hopeful breakdown and hopeful takedown of authority and domination, and what we need to understand about our leaders. So they speak to 2026 really radically.
Lauren Elias: Bryn, you sold me on it. I will admit, when I said, “Tartuffe was a run-away hit, what do you want to do next?” and she said, “The Bald Soprano,” I said “…reeeaally? Are you suuure? I’m literally giving you a blank check, here – I don’t know, Bryn.” But she told me her vision, and I was in, 100 percent, and I kick myself every day for not being in from the get-go because it’s amazing.
Charlotte Snow: You sort of answered my next question, which was “Why these plays? Why now?” What makes these two pieces particularly captivating and relevant for 2026 audiences?
Bryn Boice: It feels intertwined with the choosing, you can’t really not think about what’s going on right now as you make choices in the arts.
Lauren Elias: Well, what I think is interesting to note is that we had staged The Lesson and then Minneapolis happened. And we got together in rehearsal, and we said, “We need to change a couple of things to make it timelier.” That’s what’s so amazing: we were staged, we were done, we were ready to run, and we had to sit down and say, “No, we need to change this to reflect what happened a week ago.”
Bryn Boice: And I also said, “This may change more, through opening night, because the world, the insanity, is coming at us so quickly, that there may be new insanity to supplant this insanity. So, we’ve been watching the news as we work.”
Lauren Elias: We’ve been taking a lot of inspiration from that John Mulaney bit of “THERE’S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!”
Charlotte Snow: When you are not directing for Hub Theatre Company, you’re also the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education in Training for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Has working with Shakespeare’s text, which some people say ‘sounds like nonsense,’ helped you navigate Ionesco’s absurdist dialogue, which actually sounds a lot closer to non-sense?
Bryn Boice: Working on Shakespeare’s text so often, and so diligently, but also teaching it, has really given me a huge respect for language in general. Making sure that it is clear, and that sense is made when you think there is no sense. You really have to dive in because it wasn’t like he [Shakespeare] was just writing words down. He had an incredible craft. So when we think about something like Ionesco’s pieces that seem like they don’t have any sense, they actually do have a sense in that they have a rhythm. They have a “what do you think is happening underneath this?” Even if it is the opposite of what the line is, and the way the words sound. I do feel like in the same way that I like to protect Shakespeare, and make sure that people get what he is saying, we do the same thing for the nonsense in this play, that there is still meaning and clarity. It can’t be garbled; we still have to do all of the things that we do with Shakespeare in terms of crafting, pulling the text apart, and finding our own meaning. Even if it’s kind of nonsense. It really does help craft what’s happening on the stage.
Charlotte Snow: This is now your fourth production with Hub Theatre Company, previous collaborations including Into The Breeches! The Book of Will, and last year’s production of Tartuffe. What has become your favorite part of working with Hub Theatre Company?
Lauren: Why are you such a glutton for punishment?
Bryn Boice: I love what Lauren is doing, practically, single-handedly, truly keeping the fringe in Boston alive, and this company gives hope to other fringe companies that are coming along and creating themselves. I love working with Lauren. She is one of those producers who’s like “I trust you.” That’s a huge thing to get because a lot of times when you’re working for larger companies – I feel really free working with Hub, because there aren’t people for whom I’m having to manage expectations. Lauren trusts me, and that is a huge thing that does not happen as the company gets more and more money.
Lauren Elias: Don’t worry, we’re not getting any more money, Bryn!
Bryn Boice: I just want to give a shout-out to Fringe and Poor Theatre. Not that hub is poor–
Lauren Elias: Call a spade a spade, it’s fine Bryn.
Bryn Boice: We spent money on this project, but we are allowed to be sort of ingenious in a Towards A Poor Theatre way, and there’s so much freedom in that. And I’m so thankful to Lauren, who is a great producer and actor, and a loving producer who is very trusting in the room.
Charlotte Snow: I did want to bring that up, because we do have the amazingly talented Lauren Elias here with us. In addition to being the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Hub Theatre Company, you have also been known to frequent the stage and collaborate with Bryn? How do you two navigate that unique dynamic and artistic relationship?
Lauren Elias: I trust Bryn implicitly, and I trust my team. I am very fortunate to not only have Bryn on this team, but I have my set designer, my sound designer, and all my designers on this team are absolutely tremendous, and I trust them completely. Not only with their visions and abilities, but I’m fortunate that I’ve gotten to surround myself with really good people. Not just talented people, good people, and they’re better at separating my roles than I am. Bryn and my stage management team are constantly like “Nope! Stop producing. Go look at your lines. We can talk about this at the prod staff meeting. None of this needs to be worried about right now.”
Bryn Boice: I think you’ve gotten really good about wearing the hats and taking them off when you need to take them off. And I don’t think that’s something a lot of people can do, to take off your producer hat and go be an actor.
Charlotte Snow: Hub Theatre Company has become known for having a tight-knit, almost repertory-style ensemble of actors. What is it like working with some of the same actors, seeing them evolve and take on new types of roles throughout the course of multiple projects? And, asking for a friend, how would a person go about becoming one of those recurring actors at Hub Theatre Company?
Lauren Elias: I mean, I’ll be honest, since Stage Source folded, they’ve got the Boston Area Theatre Actors on Instagram, that’s where auditions get posted. But I’ve been really fortunate that between Bryn and I, we really know everybody. Bryn sits through an exorbitant amount of auditions for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and I get to piggyback off that knowledge.
Bryn Boice: I am very lucky to be meeting so many young actors through the apprentice program and through the auditions like BATA’s and auditions for CSC2. I feel very fortunate to see and pull up new talent in all the different jobs I get to do. In this show alone, I have a former apprentice, and 2 former CSC2 people, and you sort of recognize kindred spirits, and pull them up through the ranks. For people who are wanting to get into any of these companies, audition, audition, audition! Because once you get in that sort of mental rolodex of actors with all the directors in town, it’s easier for us to access you. So, keep going out for stuff, keep going out, keep going out.
Lauren Elias: And I think not even keep going out for stuff, but show up. Show up for the company’s shows. I remember people who show up for shows more than people who cold email me with a resume and headshot.
Bryn Boice: I think that was the best advice the actor Bill Murray ever told me. “You want to get in good with somebody, go to their shows.”
Charlotte Snow: Well, now I think the Theater Mirror readers want to know how you met Bill Murray!
Lauren Elias: I want to know that too, Bryn!
Bryn Boice: My day job back in New York was at Barney’s, the luxury clothing store. And one day his wife was shopping, and he was sitting there on the easy chair. And I just went up to him and said, “Hey, I’m an improviser, and I love comedy, and I would like any advice you have for a young actor who wants to do something like SNL.” And he said, “Be around, sweep the floors, be around. Because one day they’re gonna look around and they’re gonna need somebody and you will have been there.” And that is the best showbiz advice I’ve ever been given. Be around, go to opening nights, and just be around, and show up for the people that you like.
Charlotte Snow: What are you most looking forward to audiences to experience or take away from The Bald Soprano and The Lesson?
Bryn Boice: I hope that people pee their pants. In The Bald Soprano, I want people to recognize themselves. It is set in the 50s, but I think people will see themselves and how ridiculous we are, and how that’s okay. And with The Lesson, I hope they see how that goes one step deeper.
Charlotte Snow: If you were to describe these absurdist plays using only numbers and punctuation, how would you do so?
Bryn Boice: Nineteen quadrillion… semicolon. Is that helpful?
Charlotte Snow: Of course, it’s helpful!
The Bald Soprano and The Lesson run from February 20th to March 8th at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA, 02116. For tickets and more information, visit the Hub Theatre Company website
