"Hurricane Diane" at Aurora Theatre Company

Aurora Theatre Company production photo by Kevin Berne

 It only took five years (with an intervening pandemic) before Madeleine George's play Hurrcane Diane made it to a bay are stage. Long-time readers may recall that I saw this as a reading at Shotgun back in 2018, where I predicted we'd be seeing it on a local stage before long. Obviously everything takes longer in a world with a pandemic, so I'm glad to see this didn't get lost.

The Play

In the large, it's the same play as five years ago, though it has been tightened up some. It's still a modernization of The Bacchae, with Dionysus (or here, "Diane") gathering/seducing a group of acolytes to restore Earth to a primeval permaculture, starting with the residents of a Monmouth County, NJ, suburban cul-de-sac.

The Production

As usual, a high-quality production from Aurora, taking advantage of the intimacy of the 3/4 thrust stage. Director Jennifer King keeps things hopping in the simplified suburban home setting (designed by Kate Boyd), where a kitchen island stands for all the furnishings, and French doors open out to the suburban gardens, represented only by colored lights (designed by Kurt Landisman).

Diane (Stacy Ross) makes a big entrance as the smug, confident Dionysian goddess looking to put the band back together, as it were, recruiting some adherents so she can reclaim the planet before human destruction is irreversible. In turn, she visits and recruits Carol (Rebecca Schweitzer), Renee (Leontyne Mbele-Mbong), Beth (Gianna DiGregorio Rivera), and Pam (Luisa Sermol), who live in the four homes on the cul-de-sac, and who gather periodically for coffee and commiseration. Each are challenging and spectacular in their own ways.

Needless to say, Diane finds her job less easy than it was "back in the day", but it's really fun watching her work each of her candidates in various ways. Ross is a joy on stage, and she's obviously having a good time playing Diane with her tongue firmly planted in her cheek. All of the housewives are fun in various ways, with particular kudos to Rivera, whose Beth is somewhere between vulnerable and gullible, and Pam, who really bring the New Jersey to the role.

Through all of this, George's trademark dialogue rings very true, and it's fun to listen as well as to watch as things unravel.

The Bottom Line

I enjoyed the show a lot. It's well written (even better than I remembered from the reading) and the cast and staging are top-notch. The show runs through July 16th at Aurora's downtown Berkeley theater. I highly recommend it!