Arts

Be Here Now Intrigues

by Jules Becker
Friday Oct 8, 2021

This article is from the October 7, 2021 issue of South End News.


Samantha Richert and Barlow Adamson.  Photo by Mark S. Howard
Samantha Richert and Barlow Adamson. Photo by Mark S. Howard   

Deborah Zoe Laufer is clearly fond of eccentrics. In the playwrights' dramedy "The Last Schartz"—affectingly staged a while back by Gloucester Stage Company, middle sibling Simon sees his love of astronomy as a kind of launch pad for astronaut-based adventurousness. Laufer's intriguing 90-minute play "Be Here Now" gives sympathetic hearings to the very different drummers' beats of nihilist doctoral candidate Bari and garbage architectural wizard Mike.
Lyric Stage Company of Boston artistic director Courtney O'Connor must share Laufer's fondness as her staging of the latter's Hub premiere makes Bari and Mike's unexpected connection and evolving romance a winning company opener.
Initially making that connection and developing that romance look to be Herculean labors for the unlikely couple. Bari sees no serenity in yoga with her fulfillment center co-workers Luanne and Patty, calls herself an atheist, despairs of "hard economic times," refers to Schopenhauer and speaks of everything ending in grief.
At the same time the non-tenured teacher believes that "nothing matters" and struggles to write her dissertation on nihilism for eight years with no success. Complicating her life even further are collapses that may be seizures.
All of these challenges notwithstanding, her thinking and philosophy of life begin to change after she is paired up by Patty with her cousin Mike. At first, Bari jumps to the erroneous conclusion that Mike is a 'loser' when he picks up a stroller and a wicker basket that have been abandoned.
In reality Mike is a MacArthur Foundation grant recipient, regarded as a genius for transforming discards into unusual residences—with one actually bought for $10,000 and installed in a museum. Adding to the distinctiveness of Mike's construction of nearly 300 houses is the help of his pet crow Hubbel—who brings over wood (a demonstration of the intelligence of the bird).
Bari's seizures may continue, but rectangles of light--much in blue and red—attend her relationship with Mike. "We're connected," she admits. As they kiss and become more intimate, her nihilistic philosophy fades and she realizes that he is an essentially nice guy.
Eventually he reveals a disturbing truth about what happened to his late wife and child, but Bari understands that he is trying to hold things together. Ultimately, her new understanding about Mike, love and what is important in life brings her to an appreciation of what human fulfillment can be.
Under O'Connor's sharp direction, Samantha Richert captures the inspiring character arc that takes Bari from despair to hope and self-esteem. Her seizures are fully convincing, as is her elation over visions of color and connection with Mike.
Barlow Adamson finds all of Mike's likeable eccentricity and his touching self-searching. Shani Farrell has Patti's tough love and caring. Katherine C. Shaver is properly naïve and supportive. Kudos go to Janie E. Howland's well detailed fulfillment center and Karen Perlow's poetic color visions.
Director O'Connor observes in her playbill note how this story and Bari resonate with her own life. "Be Here Now" may seem a 'small' play to some demanding theatergoers, but Bari and Mike's respective journeys to real existence should ring true—especially with the rise of anxiety and depression in the age of COVID-19.