I commend Onstage on its resilience while navigating a wild rent increase (amongst other outrageous costs), and a GoFundMe to finish the last two productions in its season; the company has not announced repertoire in 2027 due to its lease being up in February and surviving in limbo or “life support,” as James Darvas, Artistic Director, mentioned in an interview. With all that, the curtain is rising, and performances for Isaac’s Eye are taking place until July 19th, with an added performance on Wednesday, July 15, due to the Mexico-England World Cup match happening this Sunday. Resilient and able to read the room!

There comes an age when, instead of thinking about your grandparents or parents, you think about yourself. And that is what happened to me seeing Onstage’s latest production, The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Coble. Set in an apartment in Brooklyn, Alexandra (Linda Benning) is an artist in her 80s and the mother of three. She has barricaded herself in the apartment because her two older children consider it better to put her in assisted living. The youngest son, Chris (James P. Darvas), who has been estranged for two decades, returns at the petition of his siblings and to buffer the situation.