The Cast. Photo by Mark S Howard.
Presented by Lyric Stage Boston
By David Valdes
Directed by Bridget Kathleen O’Leary and Charlotte Snow
Intimacy Choreography by Shira Helena Gitlin
Featuring: Paige Clark, Arthur Gomez, Jupiter Lê, Antonia Turilli
Lyric Stage of Boston
140 Clarendon St,
2nd floor, Boston,
MA 02116
Running Time: 90-100 minutes with no intermission.
Critique by Kitty Drexel
“Fudge, Fudge,” traditional, a folk hand clapping/jump rope song
Fudge fudge, call the judge
Mama’s had a baby
Not a boy, not a girl
Just a plain old baby…
BOSTON – David Valdes’ The Great Reveal is a period piece about a socially distanced gender reveal party gone wrong. Lexi (Paige Clark) is seven months pregnant and wants every detail of her party to be picture-perfect for Momstagram. Her loving, mostly attentive husband Christopher (Arthur Gomez) supports her as much as he can, but Lexi is intense, and fatherhood is scary. Enter Lexi’s workaholic, commitment-resistant brother Linus (Jupiter Lê) and his forgiving, intelligent girlfriend with a medicinal hookup, Dosia (Antonia Turilli, who looked stunning in general but wore the hell out of a purple dress and matching necklace [costume design by E. Rosser]).
It is 2020, and the pandemic has decimated social gatherings and American morale. Lexi and Christopher are conservative christians who aren’t sure they believe in the coronavirus. Linus and Dosia are a leftist trans couple diametrically opposed to the limitations of gender roles within a capitalist society. They are family, and they are determined to love each other despite their political differences.
That is, until Lexi asks Dosia to make a cake for her gender reveal party. Dosia makes a brilliant pink and blue layer cake for Lexi’s baby shower. Both couples try to keep a positive attitude until Lexi starts receiving calls from attendees expressing their regrets. Then, Lexi notices the striking similarities between the trans flag and Dosia’s cake design. Linus doesn’t know if his relationship with Dosia has a future. Christopher convinces Dosia to give him something to take the edge off, and suddenly, he has no edge left. Worst of all, Lexi and Linus’ Dad refuses to turn off Fox News and join the party outside. Lexi’s party is meant to be a celebration of new life and family ties; instead, it forces its attendees to consider whether politics have a stronger effect on their family ties than they thought.
The Great Reveal hits Boston at a tumultuous time for the country. The discussion around trans rights is dividing politics: Republicans are so obsessed with trans people’s genitalia you’d think they didn’t have their own. They’ve drafted bathroom bills to know who’s using what private part in which bathroom. They so desperately need to know the underwear contents of athletes playing girls’ and women’s sports. And in response, Democrats turn their wimpiest cheek.
I’ve had a difficult time wrestling my thoughts to write this critique. As a queer woman who loves and supports her trans community members, I can’t move past my firm belief that people who genuinely love each other don’t vote against the freedoms of the people they purport to love. Family members who love their trans siblings don’t vote for a presidential candidate and political party that openly hates the LGBTQ+ community and doubles down on that hate for trans people. Voting for cheaper eggs without knowing what a tariff is and putting greed over the lives of your family are not acts of love. If love is action, actions like these communicate hate.
Just because I can’t comprehend a loving family of conservative republicans communing with their leftist trans family, it doesn’t mean these blended families don’t exist. If lesbian and political advisor Mary Cheney can canvas for her father, the living embodiment of Star Wars’ Emperor Palpatine, Vice President Dick Cheney in 2004 (a time when calling a woman a lesbian drew boos from a crowd of republicans) then conservative christians can love their leftist trans family members in 2025.
But that doesn’t mean I can embrace the message of The Great Reveal at this time. Yes, David Valdes has written a sweet play about a family choosing the wrong times to express their political beliefs in public. Valdes uses his play to show us that people can have opposing politics and choose to be civil. People disagree all the time and can choose to get along. We can choose coffee or tea and still share a tin of cookies. We can even disagree about issues such as the free market. We can’t disagree about who gets freedom in the “Land of the Free” and the “Home of the Brave.” Either we’re all free, or none of us are free.
With respect to Valdes’ writing skill and detail to character, The Great Reveal feels like an appeal to conservative audience members. This is perfect for the folks who feel they should suffer no consequences for voting against the rights of their trans family members but can’t help asking why they are. But it isn’t. We know it isn’t because Producing Artistic Director Courtney O’Conner says The Great Reveal was commissioned in 2022 in O’Connor’s program letter. Plays take years to prepare for the stage. The Lyric couldn’t have known how massively contentious trans rights would be for the show’s premier. The timing for The Great Reveal is deeply unfortunate. It’s such a sweet show with a committed cast. It deserves better.
Congratulations to the cast: Paige Clark, Arthur Gomez, Jupiter Lê, and Antonia Turilli. You’re doing great work. It is my sincere hope that conservatives see your performances and reconsider their views on trans and non-binary people’s rights.
Lê and Turilli. Photo by Mark S Howard.
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