What if the Greek god Dionysus, deity of wine and ecstasy, suddenly walked into your kitchen and announced it was time mankind shaped up and started taking care of “his” planet, and that you and your girlfriends were going to be the first acolytes in his quest to bring the Earth back to its natural, unsullied state? What could go wrong?
This is the reality-bending setup for the new play, “Hurricane Diane,” set to open at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West on Tuesday, March 22 for a four-week run.
Written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Madeleine George, the play will feature a who’s who of Key West women, including Erin McKenna, Caroline Taylor, Susannah Wells, Jessica Miano Kruel and Lauren Thompson. It will be directed by Red Barn artistic director Joy Hawkins.
George launches her play right from “lights up.” We meet Dionysus immediately, though not as we might expect. He has morphed into a rabble-rousing lesbian gardener from Vermont named Diane, and she’s chosen four suburban New Jersey housewives – think “Real Housewives of New Jersey” and you won’t be far off – to join his efforts at reclaiming the natural beauty of the planet.
The four women all live on a cul-de-sac in flood-prone Red Bank, New Jersey in identical cookie-cutter houses. They regularly gather over wine and coffee to gossip about anything but the latest portents for the climate. There’s control freak Carol, who just wants a well- manicured lawn; Renee, a top editor at HGTV Magazine; Pam, an Italian dragon in animal prints; and weepy Beth, who’s just been left by her husband.
Into this coffee klatch comes Diane, livid at humanity for “despoiling the green earth that gave you life.” She has great plans – not the least of which involve indulging her Dionysian proclivities – and she’s going to begin right here, right now.
Will Diane be able to enlist them all? Will this diverse band of suburban women be inspired by the appetites of their divine visitor to unleash their wildness to help the battered planet?
Maybe. Maybe not. You’ll have to see.
The play also carries a subtextual message that has profound relevance in this day and age. Called “incisively smart and boisterously funny” by the Boston Globe, “clever and timely” by NewYork Theater, and “An astonishing new play” by the New York Times, “Hurricane Diane” lives up to its premise.
Tickets are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911. The play is sponsored in part by Design Group Key West and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
The Red Barn continues to monitor and adhere to the CDC guidelines concerning COVID protocols for small spaces. More information is available from the box office at 305-296-9911.
