‘Morning, Noon, and Night’ tackles pandemic trauma, technology and family

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

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In “Morning, Noon, and Night,” local playwright Kirsten Greenidge tackles post-pandemic emotions through the lens of a mother-daughter relationship. We got through the pandemic, the play posits, but did we get through all the trauma and emotions that came with it?

Mia (Kaili Turner) and her daughter Dailyn (Sydney Jackson) are having a hard time communicating and meeting each other’s needs in 2021 as COVID-19 waves still loom and a family birthday approaches. Life has picked up pace again, but the pandemic’s mental toll lingers.

Playwright Kirsten Greenidge PHOTO: COURTESY OF COMPANY ONE THEATRE

“I’ve been exploring what we can learn from the past few years,” says Greenidge. “In deep pandemic times, the great stretch of time spent at home caused us to reconnect with people that I had not seen or heard from in a long, long time. I’ve realized that, while some of these unions are worth keeping around, others were better left untouched.”

But there’s more to this story than just a struggling familial relationship. The play also examines our relationship with technology and artificial intelligence, for good and for bad. Visions of unattainable perfection and long hours of screen time are lamented in the play, but the person that helps the family get back on its feet is a character of digital origin herself.

(From left) Kaili Y. Turner, Alexandria King, Eliza Fichter and Sydney Jackson in “Morning, Noon, and Night.” PHOTO: Annielly Camargo

Produced by Company One Theatre in collaboration with Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, this is the first time Greenidge and lauded Company One Associate Artistic Director Summer L. Williams have collaborated. Dramaturg Ilana M. Brownstein has a long history with Greenidge, and Company One has produced seven Greenidge plays since 2005.

Diversity, social justice and inclusion are all pillars of the theater company’s mission, and it’s worth noting that the director, playwright and primary actors of this show are all Black women. This is still a rarity, although less so in recent years, to be celebrated in the Boston theater scene.

Director Summer L. Williams PHOTO: COURTESY OF COMPANY ONE THEATRE

“One of the many things I love about Kirsten is her ability to dissect the human condition through a delicate blend of realism and fantasy,” says Williams, who directs the production. “She tackles the complexities of COVID-19’s impact through a familial lens, all while weaving in themes of mental health, housing instability and social media’s omnipresent place in society.”

“Morning, Noon, and Night” runs at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theatre through May 25. Company One Theatre shows are pay-what-you-can, always.

With calendars and commitments back to pre-COVID levels of packed, time isn’t readily available to work through our pandemic experiences and emotions. Shiny social media screens indicate that we should all have moved on and adjusted back to “real life.” Greenidge explores the reality behind that and how it will take community to heal us.

“’Morning, Noon, and Night’ might be her most timely piece yet,” Williams says.