Review: HOW TO NOT SAVE THE WORLD WITH MR. BEZOS at Great Barrington Public Theater

Although it can be difficult to tell given recent weather, Memorial Day has passed, and the 2025 theatre season is in bloom.  Great Barrington Public Theatre (GBPT) kicks it off with a world premiere production of HOW TO NOT SAVE THE WORLD WITH MR. BEZOS by up-and-coming playwright Maggie Kearnan, originally developed at Boston Playwrights Theatre.

Set some unstated time in the not so distant future, when it’s illegal to be a billionaire and Jeff Bezos has agreed to give an interview to journalist Cherry Beaumont in exchange for information about a federal case against him.  Her first question, “Why aren’t you saving the world?”  An onstage Fact Checker tells us when something is fact, false, or fiction.   Offstage, other well-known billionaires are being arrested and convicted of covert wealth hoarding.  Beaumont brings out a game of beer pong, a Bezos favorite (fact).  The two toss ping pong balls as they calculate his wealth in liquid ounces of beer.  Beaumont challenges Bezos with the itemized cost of saving the world, or as many Americans as possible. But when she loses her cool at some of his answers, Bezos makes for the door only to discover that it is locked.  Beaumont, we learn, is a member of the cyber terrorist organization – “SOBez” (S-O-bees).  The interview is part of a national plot to trap the billionaires, redistribute their wealth, and serve them for lunch. Beaumont reveals that her mother Diane – an injured Amazon worker – was a chi9ldhood friend of Bezos (fiction).  He admits that he’d been sending Diane money for years.  Beaumont asks Bezos what he is sorry for in an apology note addressed to Diane, but he won’t give a straight answer.  A crowd forms outside, ready to take part in the billionaire barbeque.  When Bezos tries to get the upper hand physically, the Fact Checker reminds us that “violence in media causes anxiety”, and the play corrects their violent altercation to a cartoonish dance.  Meanwhile the Fact Checker delivers information through song and stand-up routines that incorporate audience participation.  Suddenly the power cuts out, the signal that all the covert billionaires are in the custody of the SOBez.  When the power returns, Beaumont draws lines on Bezos’ skin based on a Butcher’s chart showing cuts of meat.  The Fact Checker leads the audience in a sing along vote for either violence or stasis. Beaumont realizes she has to satisfy the crowd and chops off Bezos’ finger to throw to them.  The Fact Checker isn’t quick enough to mask the violence with silliness.  Ultimately, it proves too much for the Fact Checker, who leaves the stage.  Bezos realizes that Diane has been dead all along.  She overdosed on the pain killers she was taking since her injury at Amazon.  Beaumont submits that Bezos didn’t save the world or her mother because he just doesn’t care. She completes her mission but stating how here would be too big a spoiler to reveal. 

Under the direction of Clay Hopper, the cast includes Eliza Fichter as journalist Cherry Beaumont; Noah Alexis Tuleja as Bezos; and Shai Vaknine as The Fact Checker.  The creative team includes Scenic Design by Juliana von Haubrich; Lighting Design by Matthew Adelson; Costume Design by George W. Veale VI; Projection Design by Jordan Schwarz; Prop Design by Katie Polebaum-Freeman; Sound Design and Original Music by Nathan Leigh; Stage Manager Kaleigh Cerqua; and Assistant Manager Nathaniel Bokaer.  Their collective efforts are uniformly strong across the board and result in a production that is stronger than the sum of its parts.

HOW TO NOT SAVE THE WORLD WITH MR. BEZOS is anything but ordinary.  It is unlike most offerings seen of late and a piece that is difficult to speak or write about.  It needs to be experienced first-hand.  It examines current events and headline worthy topics like the ongoing billionaire’s space race as well as the role(s) people of influence (privilege / power) play.  Some from a point-of-view you may not have thought of.  One thing that is certain, it will make you think, possibly long after leaving the venue.