"The Great Reveal" - by David Valdes - Lyric Stage Company (Boston, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“Has it ever occurred to you that worrying is how I love?"
- ("Linus") / David Valdes
Lyric Stage Company
Presents David Valdes'
"THE GREAT REVEAL"
Written by David Valdes
Co-Directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary and Charlotte Snow
Cast Includes: Paige Clark*as “Lexi,” Arthur Gomez* as “Christopher,” Jupiter Lê* as “Linus,” Antonia Turilli* as “Dosia.”
Additional Creative Team:
Scenic Design - Baron E. Pugh**; Costume Design - E. Rosser; Lighting Design - Christopher Brusberg**; Sound Design - Kai Bohlman; Props Artisan - Emily Allinson.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
** Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE
Performances:
April 4, 2025 through April 27, 2025
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
All performances to be held at LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON, 140 Clarendon Street, Boston, MA. 02116
TICKETS:
Contact the Box Office at # 617-585-5678 or go to lyricstage.com
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Lyric Stage offers up the world premiere of "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes and as far parties goes, this one is quite, well...revealing.
Co-Directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary and Charlotte Snow, as the play begins, it is November, 2020, approximately eight months since the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down the world.
With certain group gathering restrictions lifted, a brother and his partner agree to attend a “gender reveal” party for his sister and her husband.
The single-act play takes place on one set of a backyard porch located in suburban Massachusetts but the story fluctuates between various places past and present between 2018 and 2020.
There is party table that has assorted pink and blue items intended for the "gender reveal" party.
(Photo: Arthur Gomez as “Christopher” with Antonia Turilli as “Dosia” in a scene from "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
Paige Clark plays “Lexi” who is an extremely organized, fastidious mother-to-be, almost seven months pregnant.
Clark does an admirable job at not making Lexi seem like a one-dimensional control-freak by adding a layer of vulnerability in her portrayal.
Christopher (Arthur Gomez) is Lexi’s husband, who has been made a nervous wreck with his wife’s attempt at having the perfect "gender reveal” party.
Gomez provides a nice child-like quality to Christopher who simply adores his wife and his life but seems to be unable to contemplate himself being a responsible adult let alone a father.
(Photo: Jupiter Lê as “Linus,” with Paige Clark as “Lexi” in a scene from "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
Enter Lexi’s brother, Linus (Jupiter Lê), a trans man, who tries to maintain some form of harmony between everyone for the day - which proves difficult when his partner Dosia (Antonia Turilli) takes on making and bringing with them the actual “reveal” cake.
Lê is simply wonderful serving as the compassionate diplomat among those he loves but becoming a very shaky bridge at best as the arguments between various members of his family intensifies.
As Dosia, Turilli is simply magnificent as the pragmatic partner of Linus, but whose tolerance for Linus' conservative sister and ultra-conservative (and completely unseen) father has been sorely tested by the entire concept of this “gender reveal” party.
To address the situation, Dosia brings a container with a “reveal cake” that reveals far more than what Lexi’s expects while she is expecting.
(Photo: Antonia Turilli as “Dosia” with Paige Clark as “Lexi” in a scene from "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
There are some extremely funny moments in "THE GREAT REVEAL" - from the actual cake Dosia has made for the party, to Dosia trying to bring Christopher back down from a great high, to Lexi and Linus contending with their respective relationships with their partners, parents and each other.
However, the story also infuses some moments of sensitivity and poignancy by reflecting on the human condition as a whole.
These moments seem to come at just the right time when they happen, unveiling a finely tuned rhythm to playwright David Valdes’ structured dialogue.
(Photo: Arthur Gomez as “Christopher” with Jupiter Lê as “Linus” in a scene from "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
By using the situation of a “gender reveal” and how it impacts the multiple sensitivities, personalities and proclivities of all characters involved, in "THE GREAT REVEAL" Valdes focuses on what such a party itself might mean to anyone trans, femme, nonbinary, genderqueer or gender nonconforming.
Throughout the story, the subject of the “reveal” between the conflicting and varied viewpoints never becomes heavy handed.
These four people – these four friends - these four diverse people – oh, hell - this family comes together out of love for one another and that translates well on stage thanks to the collective performances by the quartet of actors.
(Photo: Paige Clark as “Lexi,” Arthur Gomez as “Christopher,” Jupiter Lê as “Linus” and Antonia Turilli as “Dosia” in a scene from "THE GREAT REVEAL" by David Valdes, now playing at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, MA. until April 27, 2025. Photo Credit: Mark S. Howard)
"THE GREAT REVEAL" continues at Lyric Stage Company until April 27th, 2025 and is one play worth celebrating.
Concluding this season at Lyric Stage Company will be Jerry Herman's iconic musical “HELLO DOLLY,” beginning May 16th, 2025 and running through June 22nd.
For more information and tickets, contact the Lyric Stage Company Box Office at # 617-585-5678 or go to lyricstage.com.
Approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
A dramedy exploring the ways a diverse group of people who love each other navigate family dynamics and gender identity.
Newly married and seven months pregnant, Lexi has planned the perfect backyard gender-reveal party with every detail immaculately in place.
But not everyone is as enthusiastic about the celebration.
Her immature husband, Christopher, is rattled by what the future holds for him as a father.
Her brother Linus, a trans man, is caught between his sister and his partner Dosia, who is tasked with making the cake for an event that goes against everything they stand for.
When emotions escalate and revelations are shared, a family and the importance of being true to oneself is tested as they grapple to find ways to keep on loving each other.
ABOUT THE LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON
Founded in 1974 and in residence at 140 Clarendon Street since 1991, THE LYRIC STAGE OF BOSTON is Boston’s oldest resident theatre company. Our mission is to produce and present live theatre in Greater Boston with an intimate approach that promotes inclusivity and connection. THE LYRIC STAGE leads an effort to integrate live theater and theater education into the lives of all residents of greater Boston.
140 Clarendon Street
Boston, MA. 02116
BOX OFFICE: 617-585-5678
