Theatrical rising star and O’Neill finalist Amy Berryman brings us an “intelligent, soulful drama” (The Guardian) about how vast the space can be between two people. In the near future, Stella and her fiancé, Bryan, are waiting at their remote cabin for Stella’s estranged twin sister, Cassie. Raised by their astronaut father to be NASA scientists, the twins have taken different paths: Cassie has just returned from a successful moon mission, while Stella has left NASA behind. When they reunite, old conflicts reignite, forcing the sisters to choose between staying on Earth or pursuing a future in space, as humanity’s fate hangs in the balance. Directed by Tony Award®️ nominee Whitney White (Jaja's African Hair Braiding), Walden is a thrilling and engrossing new play that wrestles between the gravitational pulls of duty and desire.
Unfortunately, the play’s vaguely sci-fi aspects feel woefully underdeveloped, mainly serving as a flimsy springboard for the generic interpersonal dynamics among the trio, including the hint of an attraction between Cassie and Bryan and a revelation about a tragedy in Bryan’s recent past. Despite the occasionally trenchant dialogue and welcome doses of humor, neither the characterizations nor situations are developed sufficiently to hold our interest. Running a mere 90 minutes, Walden lacks the seismic punch to gets its points across quickly and would have benefited from a greater fleshing out.
The title, of course, refers to Henry David Thoreau’s paean to the beauties of the natural world; in the context of the play, it is also the name of the Mars habitat that Stella designed before her career at NASA was derailed. Ultimately Ms. Berryman’s drama is more successful as an exploration of knotty family conflicts than it is persuasive as a dystopian view of mankind’s in-the-offing predicament. Her dire vision is occasionally undermined by detail: If the world were really in such a parlous state, one can’t but wonder how Stella and Bryan have managed to collect such a well-stocked wine cellar.
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway Premiere Off-Broadway |
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