Doménica Feraud Presents "someone spectacular", an Ode to Grief Inspired by Grief

August 6, 2024

By: Zach Lee

Courtesy Julieta Cervantes | Pictured: The Cast of someone spectacular

In the case of someone spectacular, art reflects life. Ecuadorian-American playwright, Doménica Feraud, creates an immersive bigger-than-life experience via her latest production. A show centered on six individuals seeking group therapy, someone spectacular features Evelyn, Nelle, Jude, Lily, Julian, and Thom as they come to realize their group therapist is absent from their meeting, forcing them to conduct the session on their terms.

Performed on a thrust stage, someone spectacular is presented at the Perishing Square Signature Center, welcoming its audience on three sides of the performance. By doing so, viewers are uniquely brought into the world written by Feraud. Similarly to a theater-in-the-round concept, this thrust stage format of the show was the perfect staging of someone spectacular, and it is difficult to imagine how effective the play's message would have come across to audiences via a proscenium staged viewing.

Courtesy Julieta Cervantes | Pictured (Left to Right): Thom, Evelyn, Lily, Nelle

someone spectacular blurs the line between hyperrealism and purgatory. As Feraud puts it, "Everything is very specifically done, and I am a repeat viewer. I love to see things multiple times - it is embarrassing to admit how many times I have seen certain seasons of survivor or all of Gossip Girl." The secret to someone spectacular is that there is no correct answer to its interpretation. Feraud makes it clear that as the playwright, she evidently carries her own intentions but insists on maintaining the ambiguity of the show for the dissecting by audience members. Because of this, one is able to take the show's message at face value or dive deep into the inner workings and interpersonal relations written into each character's backstory. And maybe to understand someone spectacular, it'll take one view; it could take a whole weekend of views. Why is Rapunzel mentioned three times? Why is it written that both Evelyn and Jude have experienced miscarriages? Isn't it weird that Lily's father is dating after her mother passes, and Thom is dating just months after losing his wife?

Is it lazy writing? Absolutely not. The Easter Eggs within the dialogue of the characters map out a sub-related plot that runs parallel to the main instance of the group therapy session. While the hyperrealism is present in terms of "I'm watching this on a Tuesday, and it's 8:21pm, and Nelle is saying it's 8:21pm right now...", the purgatory takes place throughout the show mostly hidden within the script. The audience gets a hint of the purgatorial landscape during a short scene near the finale of the play, where the lights flicker in a seance-like manner and the stage burns a warm yellow-y hue. Evelyn, Thom, and Lily stand in the center of the stage, speaking to each other like family, displaying that inner-relation of the character profiles not found on the surface level of someone spectacular.

Courtesy Julieta Cervantes | Pictured (Left to Right): Julian, Jude

Feraud dedicates someone spectacular to her mother, Nathalie Feraud-Salame. Though the show is not an autobiography nor carries any personal anecdotes, someone spectacular is a beautifully written and meticulously thought-out journey of grief inspired by grief. Feraud successfully invites her audiences to a group therapy session that excites us and creates an intriguingly intricate world that engages viewers, leaving us wanting more.

Courtesy Julieta Cervantes | Pictured (Left to Right): Jude, Evelyn, Lily, Thom

someone spectacular runs at the Pershing Square Signature Center until Saturday, September 7th. Tickets can be purchased on the show's website. Be sure not to miss this spectacular Off-Broadway production!