Scene in Boston

Inside the Making of (Re)Dressing Miss Havisham: Miranda Jonté on solo performance, literary adaptation, and Boston Playwrights Theatre's new play incubator

In this episode of Scene in Boston, hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer are joined by actor Miranda Jonté, who stars in (Re)Dressing Miss Havisham at Boston Playwrights' Theatre. The new solo play, written by John Minigan, reexamines the iconic Great Expectations character from her own perspective — asking what happens when women written off by literature get to tell their own stories. Jonté talks about collaborating with Minigan, building a one-woman performance, blending literary analysis with detective work, and why the play pushes back against familiar narratives about aging, heartbreak, and women's lives. Along the way, Laura and Lisa connect the production to other shows this season, including Gem of the Ocean, Penelope, The Outsiders, and this season's ongoing interest in revisiting classic stories through contemporary eyes. You can find tickets, show notes, and Boston-area theater listings at SceneInBoston.org.

Drawn to the Water: Swept Away and how Boston Stages Stories of Life at Sea

In this episode of Scene in Boston, hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer dive into Swept Away, SpeakEasy Stage Company's folk-rock musical set on an 1888 whaling ship leaving New Bedford. Featuring the music of The Avett Brothers, the show follows four survivors of a shipwreck as they confront questions of morality, mortality, and what it means to live a good life. Director Jeremy Johnson and scenic designer Janie E. Howland join the hosts at Boston Arts Academy to unpack how this production brings the ocean to the stage. Johnson explains why The Avett Brothers' introspective, story-driven songs translate so powerfully to theater, turning a 90-minute, no-intermission musical into an emotionally rich journey through brotherhood, faith, and the ethics of survival. Howland discusses designing a world that is "pretty much at sea," using scale, sky, and lighting to evoke vastness rather than literal water. Zooming out, the episode situates Swept Away within a broader wave of current productions that center male and non-binary ensembles and more vulnerable depictions of masculinity. Johnson reflects on how this and other recent works challenge harmful models of "toughness" by showing men as tender, emotionally open, and spiritually searching. Laura and Lisa connect the show to other Boston productions and to a wider fascination with water onstage — from rain effects to illusionistic stagecraft — that continues to captivate audiences. The hosts close with recommendations for local theater, museum exhibits, and regional history that deepen the experience of seeing Swept Away, inviting listeners to engage with Boston's thriving arts ecosystem.

Inside the Making of a New Play: Girl Crime, Lifted, The Outsiders, and more

Hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer step inside the process of writing new plays—how stories move from idea to page to stage, and what it takes to build something that doesn't yet exist. They talk with Boston playwrights about shaping characters, navigating collaboration, and developing work in real time, as scripts evolve through workshops, rehearsals, and conversation with artists and audiences. The discussion opens up the often-invisible work behind new theater: revision, risk, and the challenge of writing something that feels urgent and alive. Along the way, Laura and Lisa connect these conversations to the broader landscape of new work in Boston, exploring how plays are developed across institutions and what it means to create theater that speaks to this moment—and to the audiences it hopes to reach. Also Mentioned: Lifted, as part of the Ufot Family Cycle The Outsiders Beauty and the Beast Charlotte's Web Little Women Pride and Prejudice The Odyssey The Moderate When Playwrights Kill Black Swan Weighting the Weight The Secret Sharer

Setting, Place, and Belonging in Boston Theater: Actor's Shakespeare Project's Gem of the Ocean

In this episode of Scene in Boston, hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer sit down with award-winning actor and educator Kadahj Bennett ahead of his role as Caesar Wilkes in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, produced this spring by Actors Shakespeare Project. The episode is a deep dive into why Wilson's work feels urgently alive right now, and what happens when theater meets the community it's speaking to. Kadahj — who chairs the theater department at Boston Arts Academy and has performed at the Huntington, Speakeasy Stage, and ART — unpacks the themes that make Gem of the Ocean feel startlingly present today: wealth disparity, extrajudicial violence, the meaning of freedom, and the ways women are the backbone of their communities and yet still pushed to the margins. The conversation also explores the structure of Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle, the show-by-show excitement audiences felt when those plays were first being released, and why Aunt Esther — one of Wilson's most mythic characters — makes her first chronological appearance here.

How Watching Theater Trains Your Brain: Inside the Neuroscience of Live Performance

In this episode of Scene in Boston, hosts Laura Amico and Lisa Thalhamer take a step back from individual productions to explore a bigger question: what's happening in our brains when we sit in an audience—and how do we get better at it? The episode features neuroscientist Antonia Hamilton, who studies social cognition and communication. She explains how watching live performance activates the parts of our brains responsible for reading emotion, intention, and behavior—and why those skills aren't passive, but learned. Theater, she argues, becomes a kind of training ground for attention and empathy, helping us practice how we understand other people. The conversation looks at how audiences interpret what's happening onstage—from facial expressions and tone of voice to pauses and physical movement—and how those signals build meaning in real time. Along the way, Laura and Lisa reflect on their own experiences as theatergoers, and how learning to "read" a performance can deepen the experience of being in the room. The hosts also discuss recent and upcoming productions in Boston, including shows with short runs that highlight both the richness and the challenges of keeping up with the city's theater scene. From experimental solo performances to new plays and returning productions, the episode offers a snapshot of what's on stage now—and why it's worth paying attention. Mentioned in this episode and on stage now/soon: Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous [https://www.lyricstage.com/production/angry-raucous-and-shamelessly-gorgeous/] Lyric Stage Company of Boston Running March 20 – April 12, 2026 Charlotte's Web [https://www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org/performances/current-season/charlottesweb2025/] Wheelock Family Theater Running April 3-26 The Outsiders [https://boston.broadway.com/shows/the-outsiders/] Broadway in Boston Running March 31-April12 The Antiquities [https://speakeasystage.com/shows/2026/03/the-antiquities/] SpeakEasy Stage Running March 6-28 Breaking the Code [https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/shows/breaking-the-code-2026/] Central Square Theater April 2-26 Also Mentioned: The Things Around Us [https://artsemerson.org/events/things-around-us/] ArtsEmerson (now available as a recorded album [https://oakheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-things-around-us?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnARPyL19ygYVRNOr1TTL4xzE5EaHuqIAtygJoY_XndyT3Cbs4XjO6QS_SYrU_aem_s_6MnGNHDfADQGzGXwkf7w]) Dead as a Dodo [https://artsemerson.org/events/dead-as-a-dodo/]ArtsEmerson Library Lion [https://www.bostontheatrescene.com/shows-and-events/library-lion/] Calderwood Pavillion