by Maya Macdonald
New Feet Productions at 3LD
Leave The Balconey Open is a play about grief and survival. It follows college students struggling to deal with a shocking number of deaths among their peers. From the moment I encountered it in its most nascent form, I was riveted by playwright Maya Macdonald’s singular voice and the extraordinary story she was telling. The characters’ lives have been frozen by chaos and grief. Set designer Gabe Evansohn’s astonishing set made that idea literal: shards of wood, glass and shrapnel in suspended animation, time stopped at the moment of explosion.
Cast: Heidi Armbruster, Jerzy Gwiazdowski, Betsy Hogg, Julie Kline, Jared McGuire, Anna O’Donoghue, Mary Rasmussen.
Designers: Gabriel Hainer Evansohn, Sydney Gallas, Jesse Garrison, Cat Tate Starmer, Brandon Wolcott.
"Director Jessica Bauman elicits top-notch performances. These talented actors, almost all of whom have Broadway credits, flesh out Macdonald’s resonant work in grade-A fashion."