Cost of Living

SpeakEasy Stage Company
March 2024
By Martyna Majok

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play, Cost of Living interweaves the stories of four lonely souls to examine the forces that bring people together and the ways we all need each other. 

Named one of the Top Ten Productions of 2024 by The Boston Globe.

Select accolades for Cost of Living:

"One of the most extraordinary pieces of theatre I've seen in a long time."
-Jared Bowen, WGBH

"Heart, soul, and a surgical precision-- Cost of Living has a lot going for it."
-The Boston Globe

“It’s been a moment since I left the theater as moved and reflective as I was after Cost of Living. What a proud moment for SpeakEasy and a testament to [Alex’s] dedication to accessible and equitable theater. The direction was simply stunning.”
-Audience Member

“If you live in a body, you MUST see this show...I just e-mailed everyone I know to say this is the best production I've seen in Boston this season. I think the director and cast did a simply profound job bringing this brilliant script to life."
-Audience Member

Photos by Nile Scott Studio.
Woman in a parka cries on phone as the snow falls.
  • Woman helps man in wheelchair shave his face.
  • Man sits on edge of bathtub with woman soaking, illuminated windows behind.
  • Woman helps man shower in frosted glass shower stall.
  • Man holds umbrella over woman in wheelchair, as lights are dramatically pink, blue, and orange.
  • Woman in parka cries on the phone as it snows.
  • Woman in wheelchair, covered in blanket, laughs with scruffy man.
  • Woman in going out outfit flirts with young man in wheelchair.
  • Man stops woman from exiting, in front of illuminated pink and orange windows.

Peter and the Starcatcher

University of Massachusetts Boston
April 2025
By Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker

From marauding pirates and jungle tyrants to unwilling comrades and unlikely heroes, Peter and the Starcatcher playfully explores the depths of greed and despair... and the bonds of friendship, duty and love.

Photos by Gillian Gordon.
Smiling young woman in green light, with her arms raised.
  • Full sized shot of set, featuring Mermaid on block.
  • Pirate Black Stache talks to boy sitting on trunk.
  • Man with bucket talks to kids in cubed structure.
  • Cast dressed as mermaids pose in dance number.
  • Kids recoil in fear, surrounded by island folk.
  • Pirate Black Stache menacingly holds a razor out to seated man.
  • Young boy stands wistfully in dramatic blue light, as cast looks on.
In background, a man on the phone stands in a picture frame cube. In the foreground, a woman lies flat on the ground.

The Hotel Nepenthe

Brown Box Theatre Project

March 2018
By John Kuntz

Filled with a crazed assortment of visitors, The Hotel Nepenthe is the site of a bloody murder, a fatal car crash, and plenty of liaisons—dirty and dangerous. Add in a mysterious hat box and a missing baby and you get an unholy mix of David Lynch, Dario Fo, and the E! network. Behind it all is genius playwright John Kuntz, who shifts seamlessly between absurdity and deep emotional honesty, keeping audiences uncertain of whether they should be laughing or crying—or ideally doing both at the same time.

Select accolades for The Hotel Nepenthe:

“This hotel is a place to check-in if you want to get your mind blown.”
-Edge Boston

“Mind-boggling, hilarious, sobering, and wildly entertaining […] This play touches the heart of every sentient audience member.”
-White Rhino Report

  • Four people wearing cheetah print robes in dramatic purple light.
  • A bellhop and a groom fake smoking, with the phrase "mind-boggling, hilarious, sobering, and wildly entertaining" superimposed.
  • Three suspicious individuals in a mock elevator, with the quote "This hotel is a place to check in if you want to get your mind blown" superimposed on top.
  • Two scantily clad individuals on top of a picture frame cube, with a 50s housewife woman popping through beneath.
  • Two individuals on the phone, with picture frame cubes as the structures, with the phrase "touches the heart of every sentient audience member" superimposed atop.
  • Two fancily dressed women miming a car, with the quote "funny, challenging, ceaselessly fascinating" superimposed atop.

My Body No Choice

SpeakEasy Stage Company
Nov 6, 2023
Conceived By Molly Smith

Originally commissioned by Arena Stage of Washington, D.C., this reading of My Body No Choice featured eight of Boston's leading performers delivering monologues about choice and bodily autonomy by some of the United States's leading female playwrights.

Smiling woman stands in front of music stand.
A diverse group of ten smiling women.
Seven women in shadow watch one young woman in light.

don’t feed the bear

Brown Box Theatre Project
March 2019
By Cam Torres

don't feed the bear is a dark comedy that explores mental health, loss, existence, humanity, and connection. With biting speech, surprising laughs, and quiet heartbreak, don’t feed the bear will draw you from your seat into Will’s world, and by the end, you might just want to bring Will into yours.

Man in sweats gestures to sign that reads "don't feed the bear"
Smiling man sits on the floor, with a laptop in his lap.

Project Resilience

SpeakEasy Stage Company
May 2021

Mae & Mia
Written by Paige Monopoli

Filmed on location at the Commonwealth Avenue Mall

During the COVID-19 pandemic, SpeakEasy Stage set out to celebrate the distinct and enduring spirit of Boston by commissioning six local playwrights to each write a brand-new, site-specific, ten-minute play that celebrates the resilience that sees us through each day.

Woman sits on park bench with a dachshund and Australian shepherd on either side of her.
Woman sits on park bench with a dachshund and Australian shepherd on either side of her.