Tony-winning satire "Eureka Day" in Boston tackles tough questions through humor

In the Tony-winning play "Eureka Day," a mumps outbreak turns an uber-progressive and inclusive private day school upside down. The satirical piece uses humor to highlight hypocrisy and asks tough questions about today's world.

"The more the characters double down on their point of view, the more silly they look at times, or the bigger their blind spots become," actor Eunice Woods explained. 

During the play, the outbreak forces the school's executive board to ask if vaccines should be required for students, or if all students are truly welcome.

"These people who claim to be so inclusive and politically open, when push comes to shove, they want to still behave selfishly," said director Margot Bordelon. "That's the human nature aspect of it."

The comedy was written before the pandemic. But Bordelon sees parallels with issues we're still facing today. 

"I think we're living in such divided times. It's so easy to turn the other side into villains. And I think the much harder work, and the more necessary work that we all have to do, is acknowledging people's full humanity," Bordelon said. 

Actor Nancy Lemenager said, "It's like looking in a mirror and saying we think we're so right about one thing and we're actually peeling away the layers and saying, actually, we're not so great at this."

Both Lemenager and Woods hope the one-act play will prompt the audience to re-examine their own approach to hot-button issues.

"How do we get along with all these differing views? And can we figure out a way to work together or not?" Lemenager said. 

Woods added, "The play definitely leaves so much room for all of us to look at the other side and think, 'Oh, I didn't think of it that way, but that makes sense.'"

"I think what this play does is it invites us in a satirical way, in a fun way, and in a really extreme way to say, 'Do we have to double down so hard? Can we find a way to listen to each other?' Because look at how ridiculous we look when we don't," Lemenager said. 

You can see "Eureka Day" at the Huntington Theater in Boston through June 28th.