Someone Spectacular

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A recent dramatic premise is the group therapy play. Doménica Feraud’s Someone Spectacular joins this growing trend with a dramatization of a weekly bereavement therapy group that meets on Thursday nights somewhere in Manhattan. Told in real time, the play brings together six people all different in their mourning. While the play under Tatiana Pandiani’s direction is very low-key (no one has a breakdown, no one loses their temper, and no one goes off the deep end), the story and its characters grow on you as the revelations come slowly at first and then fast and furious as the characters make small discoveries. Performed at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center, Someone Spectacular is not a production of Signature Theatre.

The premise of the play is that Beth, the group facilitator and professional, fails to show up and the six regulars have to decide whether to start without her. After waiting ten minutes, they vote to begin as no one wants to miss out or lose the time it took to travel to the session. This is a four month group but all are at different places in their grief and most feel guilty. Some have not been able to move on or cope while others feel an emptiness and a great loss.

Lily, a retired actress at age 30, is still angry at her mother’s early death and can’t get out of bed until two P.M. each day, feeling cheated as her mother was a relatively young woman. Nelle, age 47, has lost her sister who was her confidante and best friend. Evelyn, age 51, has lost the abusive mother she hated but at 80 years old her mother had lived a full life. Thom at 56 has lost his wife of 30 years to cancer and can’t imagine life without her – but has begun dating again. Julian, age 26, has lost his aunt who brought him up as his mother was an alcoholic and unreliable. And newest member Jude, age 22, has had a miscarriage and blames herself.

While waiting for Beth, they discuss grief, guilt, family relationships, parents, life choices, spouses (Evelyn, Nelle, and Jude are married and Thom is a now a new widower.) They discuss hierarchy of grief (Is losing a fetus the same as losing a child? Is losing a mother who was 54 the same as losing a mother who was 80?) They also discuss how it affects the relatives still living, the children, siblings, surviving parents. Coping mechanism are debated. Julian worries about moving on and leaving his uncle and nieces and nephews. Lily frets about her father who has just had an MRI whose results she has not yet heard. Jude has two secrets: can she find the courage to tell her husband? And, of course, they unsuccessfully attempt to pick a facilitator from among the group to replace Beth who not having been in touch with any of them has left them in the lurch. (Is she all right and will she be there for the next session?)

The cast is uniformly excellent playing real people – though some are not people you would want to spend a good deal of time with. Ana Cruz Kayne’s Lily is in your face with her anger and inability to move on. Delia Cunningham’s young mother is certain that her grief is worse than anyone else’s as she unrealistically feels she should have been able to prevent her miscarriage. Shakur Tolliver’s soft-spoken Julian is guilty as he was one of the few people his aunt allowed to visit her in the hospital. Damian Young’s Thom has thrown himself into his work as a way of coping – until Nelle insists he turn off his smart phone and stop interrupting their sessions. Alison Cimmet’s Nelle, like Lily, is strident in her anger and her being certain that she is always right. Gamze Ceylan’s Evelyn who seems the wisest one of all likes to quote from Sondheim’s Into the Woods and reminds them that “No one is alone.”

There is a supernatural air that hovers over the play aside from the unanswered question of what happened to Beth. Oona Curley’s lighting blinks on and off: sometimes the group notices and sometimes they don’t. Mikaal Sulaiman’s sound design includes an unaccountable beeping sound that comes and goes and resembles a heart monitor. Is it a clue of things to come or a sign of Beth’s whereabouts? The ambiguous ending leaves it to the audience to decide for him or herself. The scenic design by the collective dots not only looks like a great many church vestries and community centers but also allows for a fluid transition as the six chairs are moved around in various configurations and the participants make their way to the refreshment table.

Doménica Feraud who has also written Rinse, Repeat has made a career of writing about very human psychological problems. While Someone Spectacular is rather untheatrical in its presentation as there are no fireworks which you might have expected in the situation, the characters become more absorbing as we get to know them, their stories and their problems. Not only is it all very real but it is easy to identify with one or the other as we all have gone through some loss in our lives. Tatiana Pandiani’s direction is smooth and fluid if a bit too serene. Some may also find the play comforting if they are going through the same thing or have suffered a loss recently. For the record, that title is explained near the end when Thom states “I lost someone spectacular” which is how all the characters feel about their losses.

Someone Spectacular (extended through September 7, 2024)

Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42^nd Street, Jim Houghton Way, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit http://www.Telecharge.com

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission