Victoria Schwarz — Theater Critic

In set design and staging, we see these stories packed together tightly in the living spaces of the boarding house, much like the families of the Great Depression would have been cramped into their own homes. The audience begins to understand that there is little privacy, an ever-present need for money and stability, and the near-impossibility of staying out of each other’s way physically, temperamentally, and emotionally. They eat elbow-to-elbow, they dance within inches of one another, and inevitably collide disastrously with one another, ultimately surrounding one another with death, violence, desperation, loneliness, and helplessness. Yet, as the best tragedies offer, there is beauty in the midst: hope glimpsed in the meeting of Marianne Laine and Joe Scott, grace offered from Mr. Perry to Gene Laine, tattered love salvaged by Nick for Elizabeth Laine, and strength claimed by Mrs. Neilsen. All of which is surrounded and amplified by Simon Hale and Conor McPherson’s stunning arrangements and orchestration of Dylan’s songs.