This week, Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviewed two new Boston-area plays and takes us into “When Home Won’t Let You Stay” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
“The Cake,” presented by The Lyric Stage Company of Boston through February 9
Faith and friendship are put to the test for a baker at the center of “The Cake.” The play focuses on Della, a North Carolina baker faced with deciding whether to make a cake for her dear friend’s wedding. … to another woman. Della must reconcile her strongly-held religious beliefs in this humorous and human story about friendship, morality, and confections.
“We live in a culture that's really big on the idea of cancel culture,” says director Courtney O’Connor. “And I think that one of the things that theater can do is provide us a platform where that's not possible.”
“Call this a layered cake,” says Jared. “Rather than abide by the frequent black or white perception of people’s belief systems, 'The Cake' finds the nuance in complex human nature — making ‘The Cake’ absorbing, not to mention comedically delicious.”
“Pass Over,” presented by SpeakEasy Stage Company and The Front Porch Arts Collective through February 2
The road to deliverance is fraught with danger in the 2019 Lortel Award-winning drama “Pass Over.” Directed by Monica White Ndounou and inspired by both the Exodus story and “Waiting for Godot,” the play centers around two young, black men who pass the time dreaming of better days. But their dreams are deflated when a stranger enters their world, forcing the men two adapt their behavior or face dire consequences.
“There is a thin line between code-switching for survival’s sake and conforming,” says actor Hubens “Bobby” Cius, who plays Kitch in this production. “This play is sort of giving audience members the opportunity to see these black men try to be themselves as best they can, but understand that in some cases, what’s best for them is to try and get by to the next day.”
“Pass Over is most poignant for how it brings us all into Moses and Kitch’s space,” says Jared. “We feel what they feel and fear what they fear.”
“When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art,” on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston through January 26
The world is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of population shifts. The United Nations estimates that around one in every seven people today is a migrant or refugee. At the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, artists address notions of migration, home, and memory in “When Home Won’t Let You Stay: Migration through Contemporary Art.”
“Home could be something very ephemeral,” says ICA Chief Curator Eva Respini. “It could be a refugee camp, it could be a memory of a place that is inaccessible now… and so I think what you'll see in the exhibition is that home is really a kind of liminal space of the memory.”
What plays or exhibitions are on your to-do list this year? Tell Jared about it on Facebook or Twitter!
