Tag: Joshua Harmon

It’s a Topsy-Turvy Planet in The Huntington’s ‘We Had A World’

Shelley SackettLeave a comment
Amy Resnick, Will Conard in Huntington’s ‘We Had A World’. Photos by Annielly Camargo

‘We Had A World’ — Written by Joshua Harmon. Directed by Keira Fromm. Scenic Design by Courtney O’Neill; Costume Design by Izumi Inaba; Lighting Design by Tyler Micoleau; Sound Design and Original Music by Melanie Chen Cole, Presented by The Huntington at Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston through March 15.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Joshua Harmon covers a lot of ground in the arresting We Had A World. On its surface, the 100-minute one-act play is a deeply personal disinterment and examination of the complicated dyad relationships among his grandmother (Nana/Renee), his mother (Ellen), and Josh, Harmon’s autobiographical self. Equal parts loving requiem and vicious vendetta, the playwright fleshes out these complicated characters, channeling the emotional messiness and magnificence of a family where acrimony, blame, selfishness, and self-destruction share the stage with humor, love, gratitude, generosity, self-sacrifice and honesty. Spanning 1988-2018, the story is told in a nonlinear fashion, a patchwork quilt of episodes where each square is one person’s version of the same event. As the colors and patterns shift, so do our impressions of the three characters.

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SpeakEasy’s Topical ‘Admissions’ Intends to Make You Uncomfortable

Julie-Anne WhitneyLeave a comment
Nathan Malin, Michael Kaye and Maureen Keiller in SpeakEasy Stage’s Production of “Admissions.” (Maggie Hall Photography)

By Julie-Anne Whitney

‘Admissions’ – Written by Joshua Harmon; Directed by Paul Daigneault; Scenic Design by Eric Levenson; Lighting Design by Karen Perlow; Costume Design by Charles Schoonmaker; Sound Design by Dewey Dellay; Stage Managed by Stephen MacDonald. Produced by SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts through November 30, 2019.

The Boston premiere production of Joshua Harmon’s play Admissions, directed by Paul Daigneault, offers an unsettling behind-the-scenes look at issues of class and race through the eyes of the most privileged among us: wealthy, educated white people.

The story centers on Sherri Rosen-Mason (played with thoughtful sensitivity by Maureen Keiller), the head of admissions at Hillcrest, a small New Hampshire prep school, and her headmaster husband, Bill (played by the magnetic Michael Kaye), who have worked for years to expand the racial diversity of the school’s student body, which includes their son, a senior who is anxiously awaiting his college acceptance letters. Boston University student Nathan Malin, gives a commanding, stand-out performance as Charlie, son of Bill and Sherri, who spends the bulk of the play grappling with questions about privilege, fairness, fact versus opinion, and who “deserves” what and why. 

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