Live theater is a thankfully bottomless mine. Playwrights keep turning out gems year after year, seeking companies to produce their work. There are dull bits, sure, gravel in between. But any producing manager will tell you there are thousands of sparkling little pieces out there waiting to be found and realized. Key West is fortunate to have miners like Joy Hawkins sifting through scripts, looking for plays that are cerebral, have a heart and are conducive to the intimate setting of Red Barn Theatre. Written by Sean Grennan, “A Rock Sails By,” which premiered just three years ago in Wisconsin, is one such gem.
The play revolves around astrophysicist Lynn Cummings, played brilliantly by Mimi McDonald, a woman who possesses a cold and unrelenting dedication to fact and science, whether the situation pertains to her personal health, or to the unidentified object entering Earth’s orbit. Her conceit is called into question when a journalist (Jody Orrigo) for a questionable online publication takes her comments out of context at the behest of his click-hungry boss (Lauren Thompson). Flummoxed by her integrity being called into question, Cummings invites the journalist to travel with her and witness the event in person, intended to prove that it’s merely a rock, sailing by. As we wait for the penultimate incident, we learn that Cummings is struggling with a health diagnosis that calls into question her capacity for rational thought, a characteristic that is intrinsic to her sense of self — and which won her two Nobel Prizes. Her journey to watch the rock becomes as much about soul-searching as it does about clearing her academic name.
Much like scientific discovery, soul-searching rarely occurs in a vacuum, so Cummings is, at turns, challenged and buoyed by her daughter (Susannah Wells), her boss (Glenda Donovan), and her teaching assistant (Thompson, pulling double duty). Each actor brings humanity to her role, nudging along important conversations about mortality, fact and faith. Thompson, in both roles, provides a healthy dose of laughs, deftly delivered, without risk of veering the tone into something too flippant. Wells navigates conversations with her on-stage mother about their shared grief in a way that feels genuine, while Donovan provides the perfect catalyst to spur Cumming’s character into action. Opposite McDonald, Orrigo shoulders the role of antagonist with an expert “gee-shucks” affect that is charming without feeling saccharine — his verbal challenges, sincere. Leading the charge though, with the lion’s share of dialogue and an equally heavily emotional lift, McDonald delivers her role with integrity and humor.
At the risk of spoilers, it can be said with confidence that the final act of the play is everything you’d seek in a gem – shiny, witty, emotional. The play poses existential questions that it wisely doesn’t intend to answer. It’s not pedantic. Rather, this play is here to nudge viewers toward their own answers, with a gentle push, a reassuring laugh and a little dose of wonder. On the small stage of the Red Barn, it tracks perfectly. A gem.Tickets can be purchased at redbarntheatre.com or by calling the box office at 305-296-9911. The show runs through April 25. All curtains are at 7:30 pm.
