When their grief counselor Beth inexplicably fails to show up for her weekly group therapy session with six recently bereaved strangers in present-day Manhattan, they take a vote and decide to proceed with it anyway, exploring the emotions triggered by the passing of a loved one in Doménica Feraud’s new play someone spectacular, now in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at Pershing Square Signature Center. Directed by Tatiana Pandiani, the darkly funny and poignant work, inspired by the death of the playwright’s own mother and dedicated to her, examines a range of individual responses to an experience that is both universal and personal, as the participants battle, insult, challenge, compete, come together, and support each other while dealing with their losses.
The audience is still taking their seats when the cast of six enters the stage one by one, remaining silent and refraining from any contact for ten minutes, until they finally acknowledge that Beth is late and start a round of “Fuck, marry, kill” to pass the time. Their clothes (contemporary character-defining costumes by Siena Zoë Allen) and demeanors (all convincingly embodied in the actors’ telling body language, facial expressions, and actions) already give insights into their distinctive at-odds personalities. The game doesn’t go well, and neither does their split decision to go on with the much-needed session. But they do, in real time, despite the absence of a leader, the lack of adherence to the usual rules, and the heated conflicts that result in intimate revelations of their backgrounds and feelings, understanding of what they’re going through, and how they can relate and help – ultimately achieving the goal of group therapy and forming an unexpected bond.
Damian Young as Thom and Gamze Ceylan as Evelyn, both in their 50s, bring a mature parental perspective and empathy based on their life experiences, and either of whom, members of the group feel, would make a good substitute for Beth – though he repeatedly takes phone calls from work and excuses himself from the room, then is questioned about a certain decision he made only three months after the death of his wife (the eponymous “someone spectacular”), which he justifies, while she is reluctant to talk about her own nagging cough, but discloses what she believes to be the reason the 22-year-old Jude, played by Delia Cunningham, was so belated in coming to therapy, some eighteen months after she miscarried, and why she so often needs to use the restroom.
Shakur Tolliver is heartbreakingly sensitive as Julian, now 26, and raised from childhood by the aunt he mourns, eloquently praising her, and faced with the difficult decision of whether or not he should leave for college in Boston or stay with her husband and children to help them, as she did him. Alison Cimmet as 47-year-old Nelle is an outspoken take-charge participant, who calls for the session to go on as scheduled and doesn’t hold back in challenging the others about the greater importance of some losses in the hierarchy of grief, and Ana Cruz Kayne as the retired 30-year-old actress Lily, portrayed with youthful no-holds-barred drama and anger, while chewing gum, slamming her bag to the floor, sarcastically taunting her fellow grievers, and acknowledging that she is the worst, deliver the biggest laughs with their confrontational comments and attitudes. Each one of the outstanding company is perfectly cast and flawless in their recognizable characterizations and raw emotions, as they naturally move around the space, in and out of the room, on and off the chairs in the therapy circle, and away from and towards each other (in a set by Dots that accurately evokes the unappealing environment of a group session room).
Among the significant topics that arise are issues with familial relationships, changes in eating, panic attacks and being afraid all the time, thoughts of suicide, lying and avoidance, breaking the rules of standard counseling procedure, pre-grieving, being in control versus the randomness of life and illogic of death, survivor’s guilt, what’s the appropriate timeline for grieving and counseling, if having a miscarriage and losing a fetus is the same as losing a beloved wife, mother, sister, or aunt, and the validity of feelings, in this increasingly deep dive into the human psychology, emotional responses, and physical manifestations of grief and mourning.
The show also raises the possibility of communicating with spirits and reuniting with deceased loved ones, in eerie surreal segments enhanced by the faint beeping heard at times by some of the characters (sound by Mikaal Sulaiman), the flickering of the fluorescent ceiling lights, darkening of the space, and sudden blackout (lighting by Oona Curley), and a strange conversation among them. Or is it all in their distressed minds? We’re also left wondering what happened to Beth? There are no easy answers given, in the play or in life.
For anyone who has ever suffered the grief and anguish of losing someone close – and that’s everyone, of every age, background, race, and ethnicity, as reflected in the casting – someone spectacular is a relatable meditation on how different people deal with it and rely on the aid of others to get through it, but never get over it, using touches of gallows humor to lighten the tone and rendering it both meaningful and entertaining.
Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, without intermission.
someone spectacular plays through Saturday, September 7, 2024, at Pershing Square Signature Center, Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre, 480 West 42nd Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $39-119, including fees), go online.
