Eureka Day at Hangar Theatre

When a mumps outbreak hits a private school in Berkeley, California, tensions skyrocket and community conversations reach a hilarious fever pitch in Eureka Day, running July 25-Aug. 2 at the Hangar Theatre.

The progressive school prides itself on consensus and honoring every viewpoint until a health crisis forces the board to confront what happens when facts collide with deeply held beliefs.

“It's a smart, funny look at the promise and peril of consensus, the value of shared community and what happens when people who genuinely care about one another discover how hard agreement can be,” said cast member Michelle Courtney Berry.

“As a former elected official, I was struck by how timely it feels in a moment when healthy disagreement can seem harder than ever. Whether you're interested in the vaccine debate, nonprofit boards or simply the challenge of communicating across differences, this play will give you plenty to laugh – and think – about,” she said.

Director Katherine McGerr said, “The playwright has set up such a brilliant tonal journey for the audience to go on: just when you think you can laugh at their selfishness and feel safe in your own righteousness, you discover it’s more complicated than that.”

Eureka Day premiered in 2018. The following year, Hangar Theatre Producing Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky was the dramaturg for a Washington, D.C., production of the play and has followed the play’s journey. “Jonathan Spector wrote one of the most timely plays in the American theatre without even realizing it,” Serotsky explains. “Two years after the play launched, we entered the pandemic. Since then, the public health policy conversation has exploded. This play is a marvel. It keeps you on your toes and doesn’t let you settle into one viewpoint. I’m so thrilled to share it with the Ithaca community, where I truly think it will truly land and reverberate.”

At its heart, the play invites empathy, even in disagreement – a powerful reminder that even in today’s politically charged environment, humanity is an essential element for creating common good.

Winner of the 2025 Tony Award for Best Revival and called “irresistibly hilarious” by “The Washington Post,” Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector offers a sharply funny and relevant experience at the theatre.

Performances are:

Saturday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m. (preview)
Sunday, July 26, at 2:30 p.m. (opening)
Tuesday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. (cast talkback after show)
Wednesday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 30, at 7:30 p.m. (post-show panel)
Friday, July 31, at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 1, at 2:30 & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 2, at 2:30 p.m.

Eureka Day contains adult language, sexual references and adult themes, and is recommended for ages 13 and up. More information is available here.

There will be a post-show talkback with the cast on Tuesday, July 28, and a post-show panel on Thursday, July 30, following the performance. “Meaningful Conversations in a Viral World: Understanding the Science and Policy on Vaccines” will feature: Kara Rode Webber, Ph.D. (director of Vaccination Conversations with Scientists); Ana Bento, Ph.D. (professor of Infectious Disease Ecology at Cornell); Jamie Loehr, M.D. (local family medicine doctor and former member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices), William Klepack, M.D. (medical director of Tompkins County Whole Health, our local county health department).

Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP, is the Pay What You Will sponsor for Eureka Day and the Ithaca Voice is the media sponsor.

Katherine McGerr directs the show. Casting Director Michael Cassara, CSA, helped assemble the cast, which includes New York City, regional and Ithaca actors. It features Kate MacCluggage* (Left on Tenth and The Farnsworth Invention, Broadway, and Greater Clements, Lincoln Center); Greg Bostwick (Waitress and more than 35 other roles at the Hangar Theatre); Michelle Courtney Berry (Good People, Homecoming Players, Proof, Hangar Theatre, For Colored Girls… Renaissance Theatre); Craig Wesley Divino* (Pride and Prejudice, Hangar Theatre, And Then We Were No More and Inheritance of a Long Term Fault, Off-Broadway), and Erica Murphy (The Play That Goes Wrong, Portland Stage, Death Wings Project (Dramatic Repertory Company and The Theater Project), and Balloonacy (Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine).

The design and production team includes Debra Kim Sivigny+ (Scenic Design), Carmen Martinez (Costume Design), Joey Moro (Lighting Design), Ariana Cardoza (Sound Design), Stephen St. Francis Decky (Projection Design), Shannon Toot* (Production Stage Manager) and Connor Smith (Assistant Stage Manager).

The Hangar Theatre gratefully acknowledges our 2026 sponsors. Thank you to Cornell University, Partner in Education; Travis Hyde Properties, Partner in Hospitality; Mainstage Pay What You Will Sponsor Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP; CSP Management, The Outlook and Tompkins Community Bank, Mainstage Underwriting Sponsors; Rachel Philipson Photography and Design, Photography Sponsor, and Mighty Yoga, Health and Wellness Sponsor.

Thank you, also, to Mainstage Sponsors Centralus Health, HOLT/Taitem/T.G. Miller, The Hotel Ithaca, Stacia Zabusky & Don Spector, Ithaca Bakery, Miller Mayer Attorneys at Law; P.W. Wood & Son, Inc., & Dryden Mutual Insurance, Therm Inc., and KIDDSTUFF Free and Subsidized Ticket Sponsor Wegmans.

Mainstage Media Sponsors include the Cayuga Media Group, WVBR and the Ithaca Voice; KIDDSTUFF Supporting Show Sponsors include Beginnings Credit Union, Guthrie, Ithaca Community Childcare Center, Northeast Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, We Rock the Spectrum KID’s GYM and WellBeing Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Media Sponsors are Ithaca Child, Ithaca Times and WSKG.

The Hangar Theatre is committed to making theatre accessible to the entire community through its Pay What You Will program. Patrons may pay what they can afford to see any show of their choice in our Mainstage and KIDDSTUFF series. Pay What You Will is possible thanks to the generosity of our Mainstage Pay What You Will Sponsor Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP, and KIDDSTUFF Free and Subsidized Ticket Sponsor Wegmans. Pay What You Will tickets can be purchased at the door, or call 607-273-2787.

About the Hangar Theatre Company

The Hangar Theatre, located at 801 Taughannock Blvd., produced its first fully realized performances in the summer of 1975 in a newly renovated theatre space converted from a Works Progress Administration-era airplane hangar – once a training ground for WWII pilots – on the shores of beautiful Cayuga Lake. The project was community-driven from the start, led by Ithaca-area theatre lovers aspiring to create a vibrant central arts campus for regional audiences and tourists alike. Now a year-round venue in its 52nd season, the Hangar Theatre Company offers professional theatrical productions during an expansive and diverse summer season and Next Generation School of Theatre sessions for children in grades 1-12. It also hosts its In Flight Entertainment Series, local and national musical acts, community arts groups and events, and education programs throughout the year.

Hangar Mission

The Hangar Theatre creates and presents performances of exceptional quality in New York’s Finger Lakes Region while teaching and mentoring the next generation of theatre artists. We inspire our community with work and classes that enrich, entertain and enlighten. We believe in the power of theatre to transform lives.

*Artist is a member of Actors’ Equity Association

+ Artist is a member of the United Scenic Artists Local 829