Director Joe Bearor on Mad Horse Theatre Company's production of "Eureka Day"
Photos by Noli French/French's Fotos
Due to recent scheduled excursions I booked in Boothbay and Bar Harbor (hey, I gotta get away from this keyboard and out on my paddleboard sometimes too!), I missed the opportunity to review the opening night performance of Mad Horse Theatre Company's 41st season debut production, "Eurkea Day." But I caught the bug (no pun intended) and felt it still warranted coverage, despite being halfway through its run.
Instead, this seemed like a good opportunity for us to hear from the company itself, meditating on the successes and challenges of producing a play with such a controversial story plot, which centers around a school in Berkeley, California, that hosts a discussion amongst parents and administrators about vaccination requirements in schools after a recent mumps outbreak. Director Joe Bearor submitted a director's note discussing the play's impact, its place in the Mad Horse canon, and how a modern topic that is so hotly debated should be experienced through the lens of live storytelling.
So here are Joe's thoughts on the production, which is running at the Mad Horse Theatre at The Hutchins School in South Portland from Thursday, Oct. 15 to Sunday, Oct. 25.
Photos by Noli French/French's Fotos
Welcome, friends, to Mad Horse Theatre Company’s production of Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day — the first of four plays we’ll be presenting as part of our 41st season. This show has caught fire since its Tony Award-winning revival in 2025. It’s clear that the script’s exploration of how we communicate and live together in these contemporary United (read: Fractured) States of America has asked questions that its audiences are inescapably drawn toward: what responsibility do we bear for those closest to us? What do we owe to those with whom we disagree? How do we move forward when consensus is no longer possible?
When we considered Eureka Day for season 41, a synopsis was provided to company members that concluded its summary with something like, “…in short, the perfect Mad Horse play.” I agree. One of the standards we endure here at Mad Horse is modernity; even if a play itself bears the patina of age, it will likely speak to a contemporary audience just as well as — if not better than —it ever did when it was written.
Similarly, Eureka Day will stand the test of time — which, upon uttering, does leave a bittersweet taste in my mouth. The play, set in 2018, wears its “newness” on its sleeve. Full of progressive parlance and contemporary trappings, it’s easy to feel like we’re entering a room we’ve been in before, having conversations and deliberations and fears that we all so very recently experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such that it’s hard to believe — but entirely true — that Jonathan Spector originally wrote what you’re about to see before the “novel coronavirus” became a household name. However, uncertainty and concern surrounding vaccinations has been a fixture in medical discourse for decades now and, bemusedly, I imagine it will be for decades to come.
Photos by Noli French/French's Fotos
Aside from its proximity to the pandemic, the other talking point I most often hear brought up about Eureka Day is that it makes “an argument for vaccines.” Here’s where I disagree. I, personally, believe there are many good reasons to get vaccinated — and I believe there are those out there with, what they perceive to be, many good reasons not to get vaccinated. I also believe that one of the biggest differences between me and many of those other people is simply that our priorities don’t align. That’s all. Instead of this play “making an argument,” I view it as radically kind and unapologetically empathetic toward those with points of view different from our own. In part, I mention this kindness — this empathy — because I see these virtues guiding Mad Horse in its mission and the plays we choose, as well. For all their transgressions, their coarseness, and their punchlines, the productions always seem to light an ember of kindness in me.
It feels like we’ve been irreparably at odds with one another for the past 10 years, and I’m tired of arguing. Aren’t you? So, what do we do? Do we continue to lean on our kindness yet again and keep digging, in search of that compromise, that common ground — the consensus that will make us all happy and (somewhat) healthy? Surely, it’s down there somewhere. Or is the only path to peace and quiet to ultimately forsake those with whom we disagree because we believe we know better? Gosh, I wish I knew.
I offer my thanks to this incredible cast, stage manager, and design team for their trust and the opportunity to work on such a wonderful piece of theater with them. Most especially, I would like to thank our exemplary assistant director, Juliet, for her many inspired insights — as well as the Portland Public Library for its generosity in assisting with bringing this set to life by lending us all the books you see on the shelves before you. Lastly, I thank you, friends, for supporting our small corner of Portland’s performing arts community.
Enjoy the show,
Joe Bearor
Photos by Noli French/French's Fotos