THE HOUR HAS COME
Playwright David Valdes offers a touching insight into the complexities of family life for a transitioning teen in Mermaid Hour. The New England premiere of this 2016 Finalist in the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights’ Festival is directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary. It’s well overdue: playwright Valdes sets the play in Boston to recognize Boston Children’s Hospital’s role in providing gender-affirming care for adolescents and pediatrics, a decision that made the hospital and its personnel the target of far-right protests and even threats in 2022. (The handful of anti-trans activists were met by hundreds of counter demonstrators defending the rights of transgender children and their health care providers.)
Mermaid Hour introduces us to twelve-year-old Violet (Brenny O’Brien) and her parents, Pilar Bardisa (Monica Risi) and Bird Nickerson (Phil Tayler). Violet is plunging headlong into her future, dreaming of moving from her Boston suburb to New York, where she imagines opportunity awaits for her creative self, expressed through her glittery mermaid costume as she prepares for a Halloween costume party. Meanwhile, Pilar and Bird struggle with their decision to allow Violet to begin a course of puberty hormone blockers, knowing the decision is irreversible, but guided by their love for their daughter.
At the same time, they struggle with the issues that most parents face when bringing up an adolescent—social media, phone use, appropriate dress, and sex play. They don’t always agree, and their choices are complicated by the mother (Mika, played by Clara Tan) of Violet’s sweetheart, queer Jacob (Nicholas Papayoanou). Mika is horrified when she finds Violet and Jacob fooling around together in Jacob’s bedroom—an activity Pilar and Bird consider a normal part of growing up.
O’Brien plays Violet with all the energy and vigor of an adolescent who doesn’t have time for her parents to sort out their conflicts and confusion, so beautifully expressed in Bird’s monologue about mourning his dreams—his dream of going to Red Sox games with his son but more importantly, his dream of himself as a father able to provide omniscient and unconditional love to his child.
Violet finds inspiration in a YouTube Merperson performer who is also a social worker named Crux Dumay (Alex Goldman). Despite her parent’s restrictions and efforts to limit her social media time, bright and creative Violet creates a social media presence of her own, one that throws these two families into crisis.
Pilar and Bird are appealing people, the kind of folks you’d want to live next door to and share a coffee with as you discuss your parenting challenges. I was lucky enough to be accompanied to this performance by an old friend whose child began transitioning at the age of 15 and recently had his last surgery in his early thirties. My friend was able to confirm the reality of the emotional journey portrayed by Pilar and Bird and appreciated that this play, along with A.R.T.’s recent production of Becoming a Man, portrayed the struggles of those who love transgender people.
Nonetheless, this production was not without problems. The most serious was the fact that most of Risi’s lines, as well as those of some of the other characters, were barely audible or even completely inaudible during last night’s opening —a real shame given the importance of her role. It’s hard to know whether these problems with miking were also the source of some confusion regarding the action—both I and my companion were confused at times, especially toward the end of the show, regarding Violet’s choices and how she came into contact with Crux Dumay. Deb Sullivan‘s lighting was terrific in helping the audience make its own transition from “IRL” to YouTube, while Janie E. Howland‘s appealing streamlined set of neutral shapes allowed for multiple configurations. Yet furniture (sofa, upholstered chair, and lamp) suspended over the action was distracting, leaving the audience to wonder throughout the show when and why these objects would become part of the play—oddly, in contradiction to Chekhov’s gun, some of these pieces are never used.
Moonbox has partnered with the Transgender Emergency Fund of Massachusetts, an organization that provides critical assistance to low-income trans and gender nonconforming people in the form of transportation, food assistance, rental assistance, and other types of support. Hopefully the production of this play will succeed in Moonbox’s aim of raising awareness of the work of this organization.
photos by Molly Shoemaker
Mermaid Hour
Moonbox Productions
Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow St in Cambridge, MA
ends on May 19, 2024
for tickets, visit Moonbox
