Shakespeare & Company, Lenox, MA
through July 19, 2026
by Shera Cohen
Once the audience moves beyond adjectives like mundane, sweet, and humble to describe "Fireflies," written by Matthew Barber, there is more to examine. However, if those three words are what fully define this play, that is enough.
To newcomers to Shakespeare & Company, don't be caught up in the venue's title. Yes, there are plays by the Bard in the little town of Lenox, probably one of the best performing arts venues concentrating on 1500's theatre in New England. There are also the comedies, dramas, youth shows, and dramedies; "Fireflies" is a fine ideal example of the latter.
Four characters tell their stories over the course of a couple of weeks in another little town, Groverdell, TX. The year is 1995, although the decor implies decades earlier. Marcelo Martinez Garcia's scenic design speaks to the steadfast, humdrum life of the players. Petty much everything stays the same.
Isabel Keating portrays retired teacher Eleanor Bannister whose somewhat strict education style remains at her core; i.e. correcting others' grammar. She can't help it. Eleanor could easily become a cliche; a 60-something woman with an unbending personality. Yet, Keating instills both gumption and wanderlust in Eleanor's dialogue and simply when just standing still...thinking.
Eleanor needs a foil to converse with, so the playwright creates Grace played by Shakes & Co. stalwart Annette Miller. Usually Miller portrays upstanding, both figuratively and literally, characters. It is pleasant to observe her skills at comedy plus bits of dim whit tossed in. Miller's skills stretch beyond her norm. Grace is the epitome of chatterbox, funny at first, but her dialogue, especially at the play's start, could easily be cut. None of it helps the plot.
While actor Gregory Boover is the youngest cast member and has the least number of lines, he plays naivety and sweetness as the town policeman just as anyone would depict the clean-cut boy next-door whose former teacher had been Eleanor. They show mutual respect.
Drifter Abel Brown, played by Jeb Brown, could be friend or foe; probably the latter because why would anyone purposely come to Groverdell? He is the subject of scuttlebutt, so the audience is eager to meet him. Both Browns are charming, sweet talkers, and burly enough to put a roof on a schoolteacher's old house. Eleanor and Abel's relationship of "will they or won't they is" not obvious.
In a sense, "Fireflies" is a chick play. It's a guess that Director Daniela Varon chooses that definition to be simple and a maybe demeaning. More so, the play can best be appreciated by those who are older and maybe wider.
