A STRONG BREW OF CHARACTER AND STORY

The Counter is the latest in a series of plays in greater Boston featuring a character who pours drinks. In recent months we’ve had Primary Trust, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Spitfire Grill, and Waitress. Spitfire Grill, Two Strangers, and The Counter all feature a female lead who has chosen to work in a diner, or in the case of Two Strangers, as a barista, as a way to escape her past. Primary Trust and The Counter feature male leads who form a healing friendship with a woman who serves drinks or coffee. In other words, a number of playwrights are finding the relationships between servers and their regular customers to be rich in potential. The Counter, written by Meghan Kennedy, takes this possibility further than any of the others to portray a counter server and her customer moving cautiously and courageously toward a profound and life-changing friendship.

Margaret Clark

Tightly directed by Alex Lonati, we are treated to Julia Wonkka‘s gorgeous set gleaming with chrome and black-and-white tile, and embellished with all the details that make a familiar diner. Margaret Clark is beautiful as Katie. Her face captures every nuance of feeling as she struggles with how much of her pain to reveal to “ranney”’s totally convincing Paul, a man who has given up on life but who longs for one last surprise. Much as her own past burdens Katie, she is taken aback by Paul’s request and struggles to decide what it really means to be a friend.

“ranney”

The arrival of a third character, the acclaimed Maureen Keiller as Peg, well into the play, turns up the heat for everyone involved in this fascinating 70-minute exploration of the meaning of friendship, the power of secrets, and the struggle to have agency over our own bodies and lives. Peg is both transgressive and highly likeable; her interactions with Paul simmer with provocative subtext.

Margaret Clark and “ranney”

Sound (Aubrey Dube) and lighting design (Ben Rush) keep the story moving over a series of days while preserving the intimacy and immediacy required to fully involve us in this gripping story of how questions of life, love, death, and meaning can be resolved—or not—by sharing one’s struggles with a friend. Like a good cup of coffee, it’s an experience that stimulates, uplifts, and satisfies.

Maureen Keiller

photos by Jim Sabitus

The Counter
The Umbrella Stage Company
Black Box Theater at The Umbrella Arts Center, 40 Stow Street in Concord, MA
Thurs and Fri at 7:30; Sat at 8; Sun at 3
ends on November 9, 2025
for tickets, visit Umbrella Arts Center

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston