CST’s ‘Summer, 1976’: A Thoughtful Retrospective On a Friendship Found and Lost

November 9, 2025April 8, 2026 Julie-Anne WhitneyLeave a comment

Laura Latreille, Lee Mikeska Gardner in CST’s ‘Summer, 1976′. Photos by Nile Scott Studios

‘Summer, 1976’ − Written by David Auburn; Directed by Paula Plum; Assistant directed by Ulrika Brand; Scenic Design by Kristin Leoffler; Lighting Design by Deb Sullivan; Costume Design by Sydney Hovasse; Prop Design by Lauren Corcuera; Sound Design by Aubrey Dube; Projection Design by Justin LaHue; Stage Managed by Charles Waite Clay. Presented by Central Square Theater (CST) at 450 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, MA, through November 30, 2025.

Julie-Anne Whitney

We’ve all had friendships that have petered out, some naturally and others painfully. Most of us have had moments of looking back, of longing for what was, of mourning what might have been.

In David Auburn’s Summer, 1976, two women, Diana (Lee Mikeska Gardner) and Alice (Laura Latreille), narrate their own – and each other’s – stories in a thoughtful retrospective about an unlikely friendship that fades over time. Auburn’s memory play traverses nearly 30 years of the women’s lives, from their time in Columbus when they were “forced” into friendship through their young daughters, to an unexpected meeting in Manhattan 27 years later. The play follows Diana and Alice as they recall the challenges, surprises, gifts, and pains of a friendship they both needed but failed to maintain.

Hub Theatre’s ‘The Understudy’ Searches For Its Light

July 27, 2025April 8, 2026 Charlotte SnowLeave a comment

Kevin Paquette, Lauren Elias, and Cristhian Mancias-Garcia in Hub Theatre’s ‘*The Understudy’*

‘The Understudy’ — Written by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Peyton Tavares. Projections Design by Justin Lahue. Sound Design by Gage Baker. Lighting Design by Emily Bearce. Costume Design by Kara McGuinness. Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston at Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, through August 2.

By Charlotte Snow

There is no harder play to write than one with three persons. It’s tough to balance roles, hard to envision blocking properly, and there’s a reason the adage of ‘three is a crowd’ exists. However, when a script manages to juggle three-person scenes properly, they end up being some of the best in the theatrical canon (think Glass Menagerie, Red Light Winter, This is Our Youth, Proof, Agnes of God, The Flick, Angels in America, the list goes on). Do I believe Theresa Rebeck’s ‘The Understudy’ deserves to join that list? Not quite. However, the Hub Theatre Company must be commended for the incredible effort in making the case. 

A Peek Behind The Backstage Curtain in Hub Theatre Co.’s Funny, Poignant ‘The Understudy’

July 21, 2025April 8, 2026 Shelley SackettLeave a comment

‘The Understudy’ — written by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Paula Plum. Scenic Design by Peyton Tavares; Projections Design by Justin Lahue; Sound Design by Gage Baker; Lighting Design by Emily Bearce. Presented by Hub Theatre Company of Boston at Club Café, 209 Columbus Ave., Boston, through August 2.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright Theresa Rebeck’s smart, funny, snarky The Understudy takes us straight into the belly of the beast known as “Broadway Theater.” (Rebeck also penned the smash TV series, “Smash.”) Set backstage during an understudy rehearsal for The Castle, a fictitious long-lost play by Franz Kafka, the three-hander starts with a five-screen surround projection of close-ups of a Clint Eastwood-esque guy’s stubbled face. He mugs and does a macho muscled vamp, screaming “Get in the truck!” menacingly. Eventually, the film’s title (“Trucknado”) blazes across the screen as a booming voice warns, “Stay low or drive high.”

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

March 6, 2020April 8, 2026 Julie-Anne WhitneyLeave a comment

(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.