Eureka Day is a play about vaccination and anti-vaccination. But of course, it’s about a lot more. The play, now being staged by Timeline Theatre, tells the story of how a mumps outbreak is handled by a progressive private school in Berkeley, California. The 2018 play, written by Jonathan Spector, is directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Broadway in Chicago is presenting the play at the Broadway Playhouse.
As the play opens, the five-member executive board is beginning its first meeting of the 2018-2019 school year. The board (and its subsets) meets throughout the play in the Eureka Day library, sitting on kiddie chairs, colorful ottomans and adult chairs. The board, chaired by Don (P.J. Powers) has a history of decision-making by consensus, not by vote-counting. This philosophy is severely tested when questions arise about vaccination or not, about school closing and re-opening, about keeping your kids at home or letting them go to school and be exposed to mumps or exposing others to theirs.
The other board members are Suzanne (Rebekah Ward), Eli (Jürgen Hooper), Meiko (Aurora Adachi-Winter), and Carina (Gabrielle Lott-Rogers).
Eureka Day is a comedy, with poignant moments, as it reminds us of our own debates and concerns during the Covid-19 pandemic and those that continue today. The humor is uneven, however, and sometimes predictable. The topic itself is important but the play offers no new insights.
The one singularly funny scene (and clearly the audience’s favorite) is the virtual meeting of the school’s parent community to discuss the mumps problem. As chairman Don tries to conduct the livestream meeting, and other speakers offer information, a chat stream appears on screen with fiercely funny comments about vaccination, parental rights, and other topics, some of them ugly; the chat flows continuously for what seems like five minutes or more. The audience laughter is also continuous and loud, so that it’s difficult to hear the actual meeting discourse.
Director Brown does a superb job of choreographing the activity throughout the play. Her cast members provide very good performances, each one projecting their character’s unique personality and opinions. PJ Powers, an actor who knows his way around a stage, is excellent as the well-intentioned but easily distracted leader. And Gabrielle Lott-Rogers is delightful as the newest member of the group, trying to feel her way to fit in without abandoning her own positions.
The play is made up of perhaps a dozen scenes and each character appears in a new outfit for each scene. This extensive costume wardrobe is created by Yvonne L. Miranda. Scenic design is by Collette Pollard, with lighting by Jason Lynch and sound design by Willow James. Projections are by Paul Deziel and props by Amy Peter. JC Widman is stage manager.
Timeline, a theater whose motto is “exploring today through the lens of the past,” carries out that goal with Eureka Day. Spector’s play not only preceded the Covid pandemic, but also the current measles outbreaks and the upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control. The backstory program focuses on the history of vaccines, immunity and community reaction.
Eureka Day had its world premiere in Berkeley, California, in 2018. The play had an off-Broadway production in 2019 and opened on Broadway in 2024, winning a Tony for Best Revival of a Play. It also recently won the 2025 Drama League Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play. Jonathan Spector’s other plays include This Much I Know, Birthright, Best Available, and Siesta Key.
Eureka Day by Timeline Theatre continues through February 22, presented by Broadway in Chicago at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Running time is about 100 minutes, with no intermission. Performances are Tuesday-Sunday with two shows on both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets available here and more information here.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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