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| Cast of Eureka Day (photo by Sayed Alamy) |
Eureka Day
Seattle
Rep
Through November 15, 2026
The parents at Eureka Day school in Berkeley, CA strive to do everything by consensus. The leaders of the school “council” have been there forever, but also want to be accessible to new parents. So, they welcome Carina (Hemuna Ceesay) to their group when her child enrolls. A lot of what the audience experiences is through Carina’s eyes as casual micro-aggressions cause her to wince and become alienated.
Mostly, the usual school issues pop up until suddenly mumps starts breaking out in the area. The parents find themselves definitely not in consensus when one of their children gets sick and it starts to spread. Vaccination policy doesn’t seem to come with kumbaya moments.
Playwright Jonathan Spector wrote the play prior to 2018, presciently anticipating that something could happen that might have real life consequences. He brilliantly straddles humor and real-world consequences leading us through a range of points-of-view that we now recognize instantly.
The six cast members, including imperious founder, Suzanne (Sara Hennessy), harried school administrator Don (Jonathan Slavin), gregarious, bombastic stay-at-home dad Eli (Quinn Mattfeld), and single mom Mieko (Ashley Song), and a cameo by Winter (Marena Kleinpeter) mesh well and their comic timing is pretty spot on. Each member has a distinct back-story that gives them uniqueness. It’s fun to watch.
It is definitely funny, though the consequences of the mumps exposure are not at all funny. The script is smart enough to stay ahead of guessing what happens next, which is appreciated. The main curiosity for me is why the choice was made to “import” almost everyone. All of the roles could be played by any number of local artists.
And Mr. Slavin has an uncanny resemblance to Nick Garrison, who would also have been perfect for that role. I felt almost a ghostly presence of an actor who had graced the Seattle Rep stage many times.
For more articles and reviews, go to www.facebook.com/SeattleTheaterWriters. Subscribe to your inbox at https://MiryamsTheaterMusings.blogspot.com
Through November 15, 2026
The parents at Eureka Day school in Berkeley, CA strive to do everything by consensus. The leaders of the school “council” have been there forever, but also want to be accessible to new parents. So, they welcome Carina (Hemuna Ceesay) to their group when her child enrolls. A lot of what the audience experiences is through Carina’s eyes as casual micro-aggressions cause her to wince and become alienated.
Mostly, the usual school issues pop up until suddenly mumps starts breaking out in the area. The parents find themselves definitely not in consensus when one of their children gets sick and it starts to spread. Vaccination policy doesn’t seem to come with kumbaya moments.
Playwright Jonathan Spector wrote the play prior to 2018, presciently anticipating that something could happen that might have real life consequences. He brilliantly straddles humor and real-world consequences leading us through a range of points-of-view that we now recognize instantly.
The six cast members, including imperious founder, Suzanne (Sara Hennessy), harried school administrator Don (Jonathan Slavin), gregarious, bombastic stay-at-home dad Eli (Quinn Mattfeld), and single mom Mieko (Ashley Song), and a cameo by Winter (Marena Kleinpeter) mesh well and their comic timing is pretty spot on. Each member has a distinct back-story that gives them uniqueness. It’s fun to watch.
It is definitely funny, though the consequences of the mumps exposure are not at all funny. The script is smart enough to stay ahead of guessing what happens next, which is appreciated. The main curiosity for me is why the choice was made to “import” almost everyone. All of the roles could be played by any number of local artists.
And Mr. Slavin has an uncanny resemblance to Nick Garrison, who would also have been perfect for that role. I felt almost a ghostly presence of an actor who had graced the Seattle Rep stage many times.
For more articles and reviews, go to www.facebook.com/SeattleTheaterWriters. Subscribe to your inbox at https://MiryamsTheaterMusings.blogspot.com
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