Review: Eureka Day

Review: Eureka Day |Curious Theatre Company | Denver, CO | Curtain Up! | Eric Fitzgerald | September 30, 2025

Left to right: J.Robinson, R.DeVries, E.Sandvold, K.Fountaine, K.Slack

Photography credit: RDGPhotography

In the library of a progressive private school, five well-meaning adults gather to solve a crisis. Their tools? Empathy, equity, and a shared Google Doc. Their obstacle? A mumps outbreak that turns their weekly meeting into a microcosm of national dysfunction. Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, staged with biting clarity at Curious Theatre Company under Christy Montour-Larson’s direction, doesn’t just mirror our current moment—it magnifies it.

Set in a landscape haunted by the ghosts of Zoom fatigue and vaccine debates, the play lands with unnerving precision. What begins as a satire of liberal consensus-building quickly mutates into a searing diagnosis of institutional paralysis. The production’s genius lies not in its topicality, but in its refusal to let satire soften the blow. This isn’t a send-up—it’s a reckoning.

The exceptional ensemble brings Eureka Day to life with a dynamic interplay of personalities and ideologies. Don (Erik Sandvold) anchors the board with procedural calm, clinging to consensus even as the room begins to fracture. Carina (Kristina Fountaine) exudes earnest optimism, often caught between her ideals and the group’s unraveling. Suzanne (Karen Slack) delivers biting wit and maternal authority, while Eli (Josh Robinson) injects tech-savvy irreverence and comic relief. Meiko (Rhianna DeVries) offers a grounded counterpoint, her quiet skepticism growing louder as tensions rise. And Winter (Nadia White), though appearing briefly, leaves a lasting impression as the voice of the community’s unrest. Together, these characters don’t just debate, they collide, overlap, and entangle, creating a theatrical petri dish where empathy and ideology ferment in real time.

Montour-Larson’s direction is precise, shaping the rhythm and tension of each scene with deliberate care. She guides the ensemble with measured clarity, allowing each character’s perspective to emerge naturally as the group’s cohesion begins to fray. The infamous Zoom scene—where a virtual town hall descends into comment chaos—is staged with such escalating absurdity that the audience doesn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or check their own mute button.

The production’s visual cohesion is spot-on. Scenic designer Markas Henry renders the school library with a crisp, modular elegance—its symmetry suggesting order, even as ideological chaos brews beneath the surface. Erin Carignan’s costumes sketch each character with subtle precision. Completing the design palette, Kate Bashore’s lighting shifts the emotional temperature with finesse—fluorescent clarity gives way to cooler, introspective tones as the play’s tensions deepen, casting light on the fractures that polite dialogue can no longer conceal.

Curious Theatre’s production doesn’t offer a cure. Instead, it invites the audience into a theatrical echo chamber where the reverberations of our own civic dysfunction ring loud and clear. The ghost light flickers here—not as a beacon of hope, but as a reminder that even in the dark, the stage remains a place for truth-telling.

In an era where public health, personal freedom, and institutional trust are locked in a high-stakes tug-of-war, Eureka Day asks: what happens when consensus becomes contagion? At Curious Theatre Company, under the deft direction of Montour-Larson, with a highly credible ensemble of actors, the answer is staged with wit, precision, and a chilling sense of déjà vu.

Information and tickets: https://www.curioustheatre.org/event/eureka-day/