The wonderful thing about Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks is that you get a chance to see works by up-and-coming writers such as Will Arbery, Clare Barron, Jen Silverman, and Heidi Schreck (her play What the Constitution Means to Me premiered there in 2017). The terrible thing about Summerworks is that each one lasts for about a week and a half.
Thankfully, Clubbed Thumb has found a way to recapture some of that lightning-in-a-bottle feeling. Last year, they revived one of their 2023 hits, Liza Birkenmeier’s shattering Grief Hotel, at the Public Theater for a short spring residency. Now, they’ve brought 2023’s gorgeous Deep Blue Sound by Abe Koogler to the Public for a brief run. (The 2023 Summerworks season was a real banger.)
[Read Steven Suskin’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
On a remote island in the Pacific Northwest—the kind you can access only via ferry—everyone is more or less going about their business. Just-elected “symbolic mayor” Annie (Crystal Finn) is a bit drunk with imagined power. Mary and John—played with great warmth by Miriam Silverman (a Tony winner for The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) and Arnie Burton, respectively, both marvelous new additions to the cast—are trying to keep a low profile browsing the pitiful sunglasses selection at the pharmacy. Mary emphatically does not want to talk about her split from hubby Chris (Armando Riesco). But they do want to talk about their friend Ella (the superb Maryann Plunkett, reprising her Obie Award–winning role), who’s been keeping her distance ever since she finished her latest round of chemo. Ella, meanwhile, doesn’t want to talk to anyone other than her daughter, Ali (Carmen Zilles), and the local newspaper editor, Joy Mead (Mia Katigbak); she’s enlisted Joy Mead—anytime she’s mentioned, she’s always Joy Mead, the only character with a last name—to write her obituary. Poor Les (Jan Leslie Harding, wonderfully morose) just wants to talk about her horses, even when she’s writing to her mystery pen pal. And then there’s—said in a whisper as he walks by, carrying a chainsaw—homeless Gary (Ryan King).
The only thing that unites this hodgepodge group and assorted other islanders—a cast of nine plays nearly two dozen roles, many nameless—is the whales. “If you stood on the beach at just the right time, you could often see a family of whales, of Orca whales,” remembers one. “They’d leap into the air, at dusk.” Everyone remembers the leaping. “Emerging…rising…cresting…falling.” The way Koogler describes it, you can almost see it, like a scene from a movie. But this year, they’re gone. Now, the socially inept mayor Annie has a mission: “to figure out this goddamn whale situation.”
Director Arin Arbus stages the slap-dash town meetings—everyone talking over everyone else, engaging with each other but also addressing the audience—with orchestral precision; in the Public’s 99-seat Shiva Theater, you’ll be able to hear every gossipy aside and under-the-breath quip. Koogler, whose plays include last year’s Staff Meal and the Obie-winning Fulfillment Center (2018)—manages to strike that ever-so-delicate balance of poking a bit of fun at colorful characters while also appreciating what lies beneath. It’s Our Town meets Northern Exposure, with a dash of Gilmore Girls (town selectman Taylor and mayor Annie are true kindred spirits).
And as for the whales? We won’t spoil it. Whether they’re swimming past the island or not, we promise, you’ll be able to see them.
Deep Blue Sound opened March 6, 2025, at the Public Theater and runs through April 5. Tickets and information: clubbedthumb.org
