Kirsten Foster, Susan Kelechi Watson, Mark McKinney and Helen Hunt in Eureka Day at The Old Vic, photo by Manuel HarlanThe play’s title is derived from the private day school where playwright Jonathan Spector has set his tale. It is a modern institution which has adopted and embraced the excessively woke liberalism which pervades western society, requiring everyone to be sensitive to everything which anyone else could potentially feel, believe or think, no matter how outlandish or attention seeking.
The characters are members of the school committee whose deliberations after hours are peppered with interjections reminding fellow members that “Everyone’s voice and opinion is valid”, “We should avoid framing questions as a negative”, “No-one here is a villain” and “Whilst I may disagree with your opinion, I respect you as an intelligent person and your right to believe what you believe.” The earnestness with which the collective company utter these phrases engenders a constant ripple of knowing amusement from the audience.
An outbreak of mumps turns out to be the catalyst for a serious breakdown in woke etiquette when a meeting is opened-up to concerned parents via an online portal. Here the show ramps-up the comedy element by projecting a live feed (of the comments exchanged by those not physically present), onto a screen above the heads of those in the room. It perfectly parodies the kind of escalating breakdown in civility which we have all witnessed on social media platforms during the frustrations of lockdown. Here, the control measures proposed to stem the outbreak, soon lead to an irreparable chasm between Suzanne (Helen Hunt) and Carina (Susan Kelechi Watson) whose heartfelt clashes about vaccinations, protection of the individual and collective community responsibility come perilously close to presumption and disrespect, whilst giving the audience plenty of food for thought.
Tautly directed by Katy Rudd, the piece is a marvellous ensemble effort in which each participant (Kirsten Foster as May, Ben Schnetzer as Eli, Mark McKinney as Don) gets to shine.
During the Japanese occupation of Korea during the Second World War, women and girls were encouraged to do their patriotic duty by joining the Female Volunteer Corps. In Kyo Choi’s play directed by Ria Parry, we learn through a series of testimonies, that the organisation’s idiomatic name was little more than a bureaucratic smokescreen to facilitate a supply of sex slaves for the occupying troops. The thousands of victims, often duped into believing they would be serving as nurses, were referred to as comfort women.