Satire with a Sharp Edge
Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day was prescient when it premiered in Berkeley in 2018. In 2025, it feels uncanny. Just as Marin Theatre opens its revival, Florida’s Surgeon General has announced plans to eliminate all vaccine mandates, including for schools. What once seemed like satirical exaggeration now plays like a headline. The result is eerie, funny, and unsettling all at once.
At Marin Theatre, in partnership with Aurora Theatre Company, Eureka Day returns under director Josh Costello, who directed the World Premiere in 2018 at Aurora Theatre Company and now helms this Marin Theatre production. The play’s premise is simple: a private Berkeley school prides itself on inclusivity and consensus until a mumps outbreak throws the vaccine debate into overdrive. Idealism collapses, social media erupts, and the parents’ progressive bubble pops.
Lisa Anne Porter (Suzanne), Leontyne Mbele-Mbong (Carina), Howard Swain (Don), Teddy Spencer (Eli), and Kelsey Sloan (Winter)
Photo Credit: David Allen
Lisa Anne Porter (Suzanne) is perfectly opinionated — and perfectly awful in the way only a self-assured parent can be. Howard Swain (Don) nails the role of the procedurally accommodating figure, forever eager to keep every voice at the table. Together, they embody the comedy and tragedy of consensus culture run amok.
The rest of the ensemble matches that precision. Charisse Loriaux (Meiko) begins with calm authority that steadily unravels under pressure. Teddy Spencer (Eli) brings wry detachment, a cool counterpoint to the chaos. Kelsey Sloan (Winter), in her Marin debut, blends in seamlessly with crisp timing. And Leontyne Mbele-Mbong (Carina) lends steady poise, grounding the turmoil with quiet strength.
In some ways, the play is a comedic commentary on everyone being politically correct and trying to please everyone — an impossible task!
Costello shapes the action like a pressure cooker, none more so than the infamous “Zoom meltdown” scene. Equal parts hilarious and horrifying, it echoes countless school-board meetings and neighborhood threads. Scenic designer Richard Olmsted and costume designer Maggie Whittaker nail Bay Area chic, while Teddy Hulsker’s projections and Ray Archie’s sound design make the digital noise uncomfortably real.
Eureka Day is funny, biting, and alarmingly current. Spector’s satire dares us to laugh at dysfunction even as today’s headlines remind us how close we are to the edge.
sharp, timely, painfully funny
To See Eureka Day
Marin Theatre, Mill Valley
August 28 – September 21, 2025 (Opening September 2)
Tickets: marintheatre.org or (415) 388-5208
Prices: $38 – $89 (+$6 fee per order)
★★★★★
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