Tag: Karen MacDonald

Speakeasy’s Chilling ‘The Children’ Asks the Hard Questions

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(Tyrees Allen, Paula Plum, and Karen MacDonald in Speakeasy Stage’s ‘The Children’ – Photos by Maggie Hall Photography)

By Julie-Anne Whitney

‘The Children’ Written by Lucy Kirkwood; Directed by Bryn Boice; Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Sound Design by David Remedios; Stage managed by Rachel Sturm. Produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the BCA Calderwood Pavilion through March 28, 2020.

Inspired by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Eastern Japan – started by an earthquake which caused a tsunami that led to the death of 19,000 people – Lucy Kirkwood’s Tony-nominated play The Children is a blistering commentary on the global environmental devastation caused by human progress and development.

Hazel (Paula Plum) and her husband, Robin (Tyrees Allen), are nuclear physicists who have relocated to a dilapidated cottage just outside the exclusion zone of the local nuclear power plant. The recent “disaster” at the plant forced them to abandon their family home and into early retirement. When their former colleague, Rose (Karen MacDonald), shows up unannounced, the lifeless cottage is suddenly filled with tension, jealousy, and intrigue. 

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Lyric Stage Serves Delicious Fare With ‘The Cake’

Julie-Anne WhitneyLeave a comment
(Karen MacDonald, Chelsea Diehl, and Kris Sidberry in ‘The Cake’ at Lyric Stage
PHOTO: Mark S. Howard)

by Julie-Anne Whitney 

‘The Cake’ – Written by Bekah Brunstetter; Directed by Courtney O’Connor; Scenic Design by Matt Whiton; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Lighting Design by Aja Jackson; Original Music/Sound Design by Arshan Gailus; Intimacy Direction by Ted Hewlett; Stage Managed by Diane McClean. Presented by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston through February 9.

Inspired by the 2015 Craig v. Masterpiece Cakeshop lawsuit, Bekah Brunstetter’s play, The Cake, centers on a conservative Christian bakery owner, Della (Karen MacDonald), who is asked by her late friend’s daughter, Jen (Chelsea Diehl), to make a wedding cake. When Jen reveals that her future spouse is a black woman named Macy (Kris Sidberry), Della clumsily claims that she’s simply “too busy” to accommodate their request.

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