Theater Review: Marin Theatre Presents Eureka Day

EXTENDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND

Performances Run Through through September 28th, 2025

Review by Hannah Yurke

Drop everything and book tickets for this hilarious play right now! Doubly so if you are, or have ever been, a parent of a child at a school in any of the Bay Area's wealthier enclaves or indeed any wealthy enclave. And ditto if you ever find yourself reaching for the keyboard with a quickening heartrate while browsing nextdoor.com. I guarantee you will laugh and you will laugh hard.

A mumps outbreak at Eureka Day, a private Day School in Berkeley, masterfully reveals hidden tensions and prejudices as parents and board members bend over backwards to create a safe space for ALL parents but especially the anti-vax ones, while simultaneously trying not to defy public health initiatives. Eureka Day, as the personification of so many schools in our beloved Bay Area, has long had audiences on Broadway and even London, rolling in the aisles and has won a Tony award among others too, so it was wonderful to see it here on home turf. What a way to open the Marin Theater season.

I often had to peep from between my fingers as I watched consensus slowly morph into control, all fueled by aggressive conflict avoidance. Howard Swain was wonderful as the kindly, long serving board member who becomes outright exasperating and then almost clownish as he skirts the issues at hand, trying ever harder to diffuse and unite as we inch towards the inevitable explosive confrontation.

The (wonderfully staged) online parent chat during the remote Zoom meeting was its own play within a play and gave the biggest laughs of the night. Without giving too much away it maximized on that undefinable sense of supressed aggression that lurks in the school pick up line (especially ones in Marin). The agonizing tension was redolent of Mike Leigh's plays, with little whiffs of Fawlty Towers here and there. The ongoing situation at Eureka Day was the perfect microcosm of larger issues that are currently dominating our newsfeeds right now and have been for some time.

By appointing a BIPOC, LGBTQ+ mom as the character in favor of stating the obvious and following the science, (played with an engaging, mischievous, glint by Leontyne Mkele-Mkong), Eureka Day poked fun at white liberal guilt while simultaneously acknowledging the entitlement and self-centered thoughtlessness that privilege so often affords. We all know someone like every character in the play, and likely saw elements of ourselves in one or more of them. How painful it will be to see yourself reflected there depends to some extent on how much space garlic and cider vinegar occupy in your medicine cabinet.

But withering satire apart, each character was also nuanced. Veteran parent and dogmatic anti-vaxxer, wonderfully played by Lisa Anne Porter, gives passionate and heart wrenching reasons behind her rigid position, adding dimension and heart to the story. Every single player felt thoroughly grounded and absolutely believable in their role.

We were lucky enough to watch Eureka Day with Jonathan Spector, the playwright himself, in the audience. It must have been incredible to hear the uproarious laughter and be a part of the warm audience response having penned that play, surely the pinnacle of any writer's career. He made merry out of a world we all recognize only too well and for that and, thanks to a great performance, the play received a unanimous standing ovation.

That sense of believability and familarity. was enhanced by Richard Olmstead's wonderful set. An especial shout out goes to Stephanie Jucker's b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l and familiar Bay Area backdrop which, thanks to great lighting, changed color so alluringly according to the time of day it depicted. A real show stealer.

So can we all just get along? Are compassionate compromises possible? Is there hope? You'll have to book tickets for Eureka Day and see for yourself. But in the event you can't procure a Covid booster, be sure to gargle with garlic and cider vinegar first! Five thumbs up to Eureka Day. I want the T-shirt!

This play is 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission. 

It is recommended for ages 14 and up. 

Other Events:

Sunday, Sept. 7 at 3:30pm: Post show conversation with cast members at Marin Theatre

Sunday, Sept. 14 at 3:30pm: Post show conversation with cast members and Artistic Producer Laura Steele at Marin Theatre

Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 7:30pm: Teachers' Night Out! Teachers enjoy discounted tickets and drinks at Tamalpie

Thursday, Sept. 18 at 12pm: Pre show presentation from the designer at Marin Theatre