Jonah

 Jonah
Roundabout at Laura Pels Theatre
Harold & Miriam Stenberg Center for Theatre
January 20, 2024 

Photo courtesy of
Roundabout Theatre Company

The Roundabout Theatre Company production of Jonah is mesmerizing.  Playwright Rachel Bonds has skillfully crafted this piece to keep her audience fully engaged.  Each scene takes the characters through vital experiences that shape them, scar them, and propel them forward.  It is through the linking of these events that a tender story evolves.  Director Danya Taymor works with a phenomenal cast to convey this story clearly and truthfully. 

Anna (played by Gabby Beans) meets Jonah (played by Hagan Oliveras) outside her dorm room one night.  He follows her.  He waits for her.  Their connection is visceral and mutual.  We later meet Danny (played by Samuel Henry Levine), Ana’s step-brother.  After Ana’s mother passes away, Danny protects her from his father, but never comes to terms with the abuse he experienced.  When Ana meets Steven (played by Jon Zdrojeski) years later at a writers’ retreat, she faces her past, the harm inflicted upon her by Danny, and the joy and intimacy she only dreamed about with Jonah. 

Photo courtesy of
Roundabout Theatre Company

Gabby Beans is remarkable as Ana.  Her character shifts in age from scene to scene, and Ms. Beans fully embodies each phase of this character’s experiences.  She portrays different aspects of Ana in the way she relates to the three male characters in the story.  All are genuine and grounded relationships.  There is an innocence shared between her and Hagar Oliveras’ Jonah, a strong bond, based on fear and need, between her and Samuel Henry Levine’s Danny, and a vulnerability that connects her to John Zdrojeski’s Steven.  These relationship are powerful, and the performances are riveting. 

It is in the final moment of the play that everything pulls together.  It is satisfying and healing.  It is a beautifully written moment, succinctly directed, and perfectly performed.  

Jonah is playing at the Laura Pels Theatre through March 10.  Don’t miss it!  

Domenick Danza