Speakeasy’s ‘Wild Goose Dreams’ Is A Surreal Romp Between Two Realities

March 22, 2023March 22, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Ciaran D’Hondt, Fady Demian, Elaine Hom, Ryan Mardesich, Amanda Centeno, and
John D. Haggerty in Speakeasy’s ‘Wild Goose Dreams’ Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Wild Goose Dreams’ – Written by Hansol Jung. Directed by Seonjae Kim; Scenic Design by Crystal Tiala; Costume Design by Machel Ross; Lighting Design by Kathleen Zhou; Sound Design by George Cooke. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage at The Calderwood Pavillion, Boston through April 8.

By Shelley Sackett

On its surface, ‘Wild Goose Dreams,’ lays out parallel tales of migration, sacrifice, and dreams. To fully appreciate Hansol Jung’s brilliant script and Seonjae Kim’s spot-on direction, a little background is helpful. Geese migrate with the seasons, traveling great distances and enduring physical hardships to secure food and shelter for their families. Their survival hinges on uprooting themselves and flying to an unknown place that they hope will provide what they need.

A Fair Warning: Speakeasy’s ‘Fairview’ is an Experience Not to Be Missed

February 24, 2023December 3, 2023 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of Speakeasy’s ‘Fairview’. Lyndsay Allyn Cox, Dom Carter, Yewande Odetoyinbo, Victoria Omoregie. Photos: Nile Scott Studios

‘Fairview’ –Written by Jackie Sibblies Drury. Directed by Pascale Florestal. Scenic Design by Erik D. Diaz. Costume Design by Becca Jewett. Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson. Sound Design by James Cannon. Fight and Intimacy Choreography by Amanda O’Donnell. At the Roberts Studio Theater, Boston, through March 11, 2023.

by Linda Chin

SpeakEasy’s highly-anticipated Boston premiere of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning Fairview is billed as a bold and disarmingly funny play. Set in the tastefully appointed home of the Frasiers, a seemingly typical, middle-class Black American family, in contemporary times (a portrait of the Obamas adorns the living room wall), the play opens with the household abuzz with preparations for Grandma’s birthday celebration. But lest audience members expect to sit back, relax, and laugh for the duration of this 100-minute, intermission-less play, be “fair warned” that only the first of the three acts is a comedy (and includes a fair share of family drama that I found both familiar and funny). Its sitcom style is reminiscent of popular shows of earlier decades, like The Cosby Show, The Jeffersons, and Family Matters.

SpeakEasy’s ‘English’ Explores The Tipping Point Between Identity and Heritage

November 6, 2022November 17, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘English’ at Speakeasy Stage. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘English’ –Sanaz Toossi, Playwright. Melory Mirashrafi, Director. Janie E. Howland, Scenic Designer. Nina Vartanian, Costume Designer. Amanda E. Fallon, Lighting Designer. Ash, Sound Designer. Emme Shaw, Props Designer. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through November 19, 2022.

by Shelley A. Sackett

SpeakEasy Stage’s production of Sanaz Toossi’s ‘English’ starts out simply enough. Four Iranian students are studying in Karaj for the Test of English as a Foreign Language Exam (TOEFL) , an English proficiency exam they must pass if they hope to pursue university study abroad, immigration and more. Their teacher, Marjan (a first-rate Deniz Khateri), rules her classroom with an iron fist. They will speak only English during class, and when anyone slips into Farsi, she posts a strike against them on her giant blackboard, practically snarling with scorn.

Speakeasy’s ‘English’ Accents the Universal Desire to be Understood

November 3, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘English’ –Sanaz Toossi, Playwright. Melory Mirashrafi, Director. Janie E. Howland, Scenic Designer. Nina Vartanian, Costume Designer. Amanda E. Fallon, Lighting Designer. Ash, Sound Designer. Emme Shaw, Props Designer. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through November 19, 2022.

by Linda Chin

Like the four friends we recently met in Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Speakeasy’s English, by Sanaz Toossi, also centers on four classmates having “big conversations” that make their brains hurt. ‘Splitting’ headaches emerge when difficult subject matter is discussed amongst people ‘split’ along ideological lines, by an age/generational gulf, or by language barriers that inhibit communication.

A Thoughtful Lesson in Speakeasy’s “English”

October 25, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Cast of ‘*English’ at Speakeasy Stage.* From left: Deniz Khateri, Josephine Moshiri Elwood, Lily Gilan James, Zaven Ovian, and Leyla Modirzadeh. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

“English” – By Sanaz Toossi. Directed by Melory Mirashrafi. Presented by Speakeasy Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA through November 19.

by Michele Markarian

“Why do we learn language?” Marjan, a teacher (Deniz Khateri) asks her four Iranian students, who are taking her English class to prepare for the TOEFL exam. The year is 2008, the place is Karaj, Iran. The students are Roya, a grandmother (Leyla Modirzadeh), Elham, a young woman (Josephine Moshiri Elwood), teenager Goli (Lily Gilan James) and Omid (Zaven Ovian).

Speakeasy’s Absorbing ‘Heroes’ is Guaranteed to Spark Discussion

September 14, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Elise Piliponis, Karen MacDonald, Jesse Hinson, Dayna Cousins, and Nathan Malin in *Heroes of the Fourth Turning*. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

Heroes of the Fourth Turning – Written by Will Arbery; Directed by Marianna Bassham; Set Design by Baron E. Pugh; Costume Design by Rachel Padula Shufelt; Sound Design by Elizabeth Cahill; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg. Presented by Speakeasy Stage at the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. Boston through October 8

by Mike Hoban

There’s a lot to unpack in playwright Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning, the thought-provoking political drama now running at Speakeasy Stage. Brilliantly acted by a terrific ensemble, Heroes is billed as a look at “a country at war with itself,” but in truth delves more specifically into the internal divides within the Catholic wing of the Republican party brought on by the election of Donald Trump. Interestingly, the play is set in 2017, two days before the solar eclipse and just one week after the white nationalist riots in Charlottesville – which means that the play pre-dates the 2020 election and the ensuing insurrection at the Capital that led the Republican party to desert their conservative principles in deference to the Big Lie pushed by the former president.

SpeakEasy’s ‘The Inheritance’ is a Beautifully Realized Production of an Ambitious and Imperfect Play

May 3, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Jared Reinfeldt (left center), Eddie Shields (right center), and members of the cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s ‘The Inheritance’. Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

by Julie-Anne Whitney

‘The Inheritance’ – Written by Matthew López; directed by Paul Daigneault; movement and intimacy direction by Yo-El Cassell; scenic design by Cristina Todesco; costume design by Charles Schoonmaker; lighting design by Karen Perlow; sound design by Dewey Dellay; stage-managed by Thomas M. Kauffman. Produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the BCA/Calderwood Pavilion through June 11, 2022.

Matthew López’s Tony Award-winning play, The Inheritance, loosely transposes E.M. Forster’s 1910 novel, Howard’s End, to 21st Century New York where Forster (a closeted gay man all his life) acts as a spiritual guide to a group of young gay men, teaching them the art of effective storytelling. The group then collectively narrates the fictional tale of three generations of gay men from different social and economic backgrounds whose lives become inexplicably linked by way of friendship, betrayal, loss, and love. The story they write follows 50-something billionaire real estate owner Henry and his long-time partner Walter, both of whom become emotionally tied to 35-year-old activist Eric, whose self-destructive playwright boyfriend, Toby, falls for their new actor friend, Adam. Toby ends up befriending and becoming lovers with a lonely 19-year-old sex worker named Leo, who later is saved by Eric’s unwavering kindness.

SpeakEasy’s ‘Once on This Island’ Is A Magical Tour of A Mystical Place

March 16, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Peli Naomi Woods, Kenny Lee, and the cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s **Once on This Island** (2022). Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

“Once On This Island.” Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Directed by Pascale Forestal. Music Direction by David Freeman Coleman; Choreography by Jazelynn Goudy; Scenic Design by Erik D. Diaz; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Aja M. Jackson; Sound Design by Andrew Duncan Will. Presented by Speakeasy Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA through April 16.

by Shelley A. Sackett

‘Once On This Island’ is such a happy, toe-tapping, brightly colored musical, it’s easy to forget that its overarching tragic themes are Caribbean colonialism, racism, and slavery. Part ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (which didn’t end well for those star-crossed lovers, either), part Little Mermaid and part multi-cultural folk fable, the show explains the history of the Island Hispaniola and its eventual split into Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

An Exuberant, Optimistic “Once on This Island” at Speakeasy

March 15, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Peli Naomi Woods, Kenny Lee (both center), and the cast of SpeakEasy Stage’s **Once on This Island** (2022). Photos by Nile Scott Studios

by Michele Markarian

“Once On This Island”. Book and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Directed by Pascale Forestal. Presented by Speakeasy Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston, MA through April 16.

Once on This Island” isn’t exactly a light show. Class barriers, racial prejudice, and unrequited love are three of its main themes. Throw in the capriciousness of the gods, whose conflicting forces can’t always be controlled, and you can be sure that tragedy will counter good fortune. But what follows the rollicking first number, “We Dance”, is an hour and a half of engaging storytelling and musical entertainment.

SpeakEasy’s ‘People. Places & Things’ Takes Us Into the Belly of Addiction

February 17, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Marianna Bassham and the cast of *People, Places & Things.* Photos by Nile Scott Studios.

‘People, Places & Things’ — Written by Duncan Macmillan. Directed by David R. Gammon;, Scenic Design by Jeffrey Peterson; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Lighting Design by Jeff Adelberg; Sound Design by David Wilson, Video Design by Adam Stone. Presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company at Boston Center for the Arts through March 5.

by Shelley A. Sackett

Like Jonah’s whale, addiction can swallow us whole. Unlike Jonah, however, who was freed after a mere three days of praying and repenting, those stuck in the belly of the addiction beast have a much tougher, longer and shakier road to hoe.

Some are up to the challenge and some crumble under the beast’s daunting weight. Some make it and some fake it. Some don’t know the difference and some could care less. And some will circle their self-destructive drain as long as they can, all the while ferociously denying they’re about to drown.