Eureka Day at the Manhattan Theatre Club“It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key.” Churchill said this about Russia in 1939. Amazing how quotes like that never run out of style. I refer, in particular, to “Eureka Day,” in which an exquisite ensemble of actors is given the takes of sorting out detail and specificity issues at a certain private day school outside of Berkeley.For starters, you could begin with the school’s name. It is not named after the town in California, which is hundreds of miles away. Its reason is never mentioned, so the name hangs in the air like so many of the issues that are raised in rapid fire.We are welcomed into the goings on of the school’s executive committee. First up for discussion is a drop-down menu for parents who want to apply for admission. Jonathan Spector creates a kind of verbal cloud in which this executive committee hides. Suzanne (Jessica Hecht) is the mild-mannered head of the committee, having served all the while her children were enrolled and now has nowhere to go.Don (Bill Irwin) is the Head of School who, if given the opportunity to skip these meetings altogether, would jump at the chance. Eli (Thomas Middleditch) is a first generation Google guy who now is the stay-at-home dad with no filter. Meiko (Chelsea Yakura-Kurtz), another parent of a student, is fully locked into her role with passing interest in this committee. Carina (Amber Gray) is the new parent who has been invited into that special slot the committee reserves for a year to preserve the quality of openness.As the play opens, we are at the beginning of the school year, and the immediate “crisis” is how to adjust (or not) the drop-down menu for applicants' identities. So far, it reads:African American or BlackEast Asian HeritageEuropean Heritage or WhiteFirst Nations comma Indigenous and Aboriginal comma Native American HeritageLatinx Heritage– you get the picture.We spend a good deal of time listening to this, and Spector is very clever in leading us down the path, only to find that it is a cul-de-sac. The committed decides (we think) to do nothing.The next crisis, and the one to which Spector was heading all along, is that there has been a case of mumps discovered at the school. The health department has issued a statement that declares unless a child has proof of vaccination s/he will not be allowed to return to schools.And the issues boil down to – is this parental choice, or does the Health Department make the rules? We are awash in jargon that these folks toss around with the hope that there are life preservers attached. “Value Neutral, Make Informed Decisions, Individual Parent’s Responsibilities, We are a school of choice and a community of intention, Values Into Action, gender-neutral bathrooms.” In a “Kick the can down the road.” effort, a Community Activated Conversation (Zoom) is arranged to address the issue of v-a-c-c-i-n-a-t-i-o-n.Within a hilarious and unbelievable few minutes, the entire parent organization goes to hell in a handbag with the chat exposed on a flat-screen upstage. Why this method of demonstrating the community collapse was chosen is confusing because Chat is in the control of the host and can be suspended at any time. Perhaps because this was set in 2018 the bugs hadn’t been worked out. Whatever the case, the audience around me was screaming with laughter while I was wondering why this was happening. In short, everyone hates everyone and has an opinion to prove it.As the can rolls down the road, we get to the unvarnished positions of the folks on this committee. Spector is again purposeful in masking people’s pure intentions until the very last moments of the play when he delivers a slam-bam moment that clobbers us. Anna D. Shapiro‘s direction keeps the pace tight so that even when we are a little lost we moving in concert with these many stories.I could have used a bit less obscurity in the writing. These fine actors each have moments where the veils drop, and their colors shine. I could have used more. As it is, this play brings us into the room where the educational sausage is made and gives us all reason for pause. The key – pay attention.EUREKA DAY by Jonathan Spector; directed by Anna D. ShapiroWITH Amber Gray, Jessica Hecht, Bill Irwin, Thomas Middleditch, and Chelsea Yakura-KurtzScenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Jen Schriever, sound design by Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen, projection design by David Bengali.Through January 19 at Manhattan Theatre Club, Friedman – Tickets HEREReaders may also enjoy In The Trenches, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York City, and Hell or High Seas. Read the full article
