The Maternal Instinct REVIEW QUOTES
Gina Perille, Boston Globe Elise Manning is terrific as Terry, the homeless woman who can utter only one word... And then there's Stephen Cooper... with a refreshing, earnest portrayal of Fred... He captures Fred's conflicts with ease, demonstrating Fred's superior intellect in the academic world alongside his naive problem-solving in the social world. Director Melissa J. Wentworth knits the collection of portrayals together rather deftly... |
Liza Weisstuch, Boston Phoenix Sarah (a vibrant Alisha Jansky) wants to have a baby...But her wife, Lillian (an amusingly high-strung Karen Woodward Massey), is grossed out by infants... Then Lillian’s sister, Emma (Rena Baskin), gives her a selection from a Cambridge sperm bank for her birthday. Indignant, Lillian flees to her lab while Sarah, Emma, and Lillian’s colleague, Fred (Stephen Cooper, pitch-perfect as a well-intended but painfully awkward intellectual) devise a scheme for satisfying Sarah’s urges. |
David Frieze, Backstage.com The Maternal Instinct is the title of an intelligent and highly entertaining new play by Monica Bauer... Hilarity often ensues... But for all the laughs, The Maternal Instinct turns out to be a serious play about real people with real conflicts... Jansky can switch from funny to moving without missing a beat; her character is in many ways the most fully developed in the play, and Jansky does her justice. Cooper offers a refreshingly unstereotyped portrait of a compassionate geek, never going too far... Manning is always extraordinarily real, and her piercingly touching reiterations of "ouch" made me laugh and moved me close to tears. Director Melissa J. Wentworth's staging is simple... she obviously knows how to elicit first-rate performances, and her pacing of scenes and of the movement from scene to scene is compelling. This is one of the few new plays I've seen in the last couple of years that I would like to see again. |
Jules Becker, the New England Entertainment Digest Karen Woodward Massey is totally focused as science and Sarah-centered Lillian. Alisha Jansky has all of Sarah's warmth and feeling. Stephen Cooper catches Fred's loyalty to Lillian as well as his attraction to Sarah. ...Bauer's writing possesses great heart and promise. |
Larry Stark, Theatermirror.com The fact is that Monica Bauer's writing is compellingly interesting --- and ... take my word for it, funny as hell! ...Out of The Blue, Director Melissa J. Wentworth, the excellent cast, and even Actors' Equity must be thanked for the care and thoroughness of this production. ...I encourage all lovers of theater to take part in the creative process by seeing the play, then talking with the cast and director and playwright about it. That's the way good plays get better! For Full Review Click here-- but not if you want to be surprised by the plot!!!
|
Will Stackman, On The Aisle A fine professional cast does their best with this work... The ensemble acquits itself well under Melissa J. Wentworth's direction... ...the social problems [the play] explores, and the deeper question of how family background influences adult relationships, are interestingly developed, worth attention... |