’46 Plays’: Hub Theatre remembers the ladies

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“Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”

• From  a letter written by Abigail Adams to her husband, John Adams, on March 31, 1776. 

By Rich Fahey

BOSTON – The  well-known quote above – as Adams urged her husband and the other members of the Continental Congress to consider women’s rights, particularly as they created new laws – serves as a springboard for a talented cast of five women to show exactly how often our leaders have not remembered the women.

The Hub Theatre Company’s production of “46 Plays for America’s First Ladies” is a theatrical thrill ride through American “herstory,” exploring the contributions and challenges the women of the White House have faced through the centuries. It covers 235 years in all, from 1789 to 2024.

It’s full speed ahead for the many vignettes, a huge variety of works with many featuring both song and dance. Thankfully there is a steady hand at the helm in llyse Robbins, the nonpareil director/choreographer who is a two-for-one  if there ever was one.

The all-female cast – Lauren Elias, Yasmeen Duncan, Eleni Kotzamanys, Sophia Muharram  and Katie Pickett — is superb and all in on Robbins’ vision, and the result is a madcap, humorous history lesson.

You’ll hear what one newscaster used to call “the story behind the story” about the First Ladies, warts and all.  Did you know that  10 of the First Ladies owned slaves, starting with Martha Washington, who heartily and hilariously endorses slavery in the opening number.

The production values Hub has employed in its intimate setting in Club Café on Columbus Avenue are simply sublime. Start with Justin Lahue’s star-spangled set,  and add Emily Bearce’s lighting design, E. Rosser’s costume design, Jack Cline’s music direction, Gage Baker’s sound design and Samantha Mastrati’s props.

Two huge video  screens provide the titles of the First Ladies, the years in the White House, and the name or theme of the play in question. When the play’s dialogue includes the actual words spoken by a First Lady, “DIRECT QUOTE” lights up on both boards.

Each member of the company gets numerous chances to shine  and the quick changes of costumes and props between the short plays goes off without a hitch.

“46 Plays” was written by  Chloe Johnston, Sharon Greene, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Bilal Dardal, and Andy Bayiates of the Chicago-based theater collective Neo-Futurist.  As you might expect, not all of the 46 “plays” hit their mark, and the amount of time devoted to each First Lady differs greatly, as well as the moods of the pieces.

Some endure suffering; many lose children. Given the times, some are pro-slavery and/or anti–women’s rights.

Then there is the complicated – to put it mildly – situation of the family of Thomas Jefferson.  Sally Hemings, the slave who became Jefferson’s mistress, bore his children, and traveled with him, discusses her personal situation with Martha, Thomas Jefferson’s daughter, in one of the more moving moments in the piece.

There have been several First Ladies who have been seen as political partners with Edith Wilson the power behind the throne after husband Woodrow’s stroke and Eleanor Roosevelt becoming a strong voice “as the most famous woman in the world.”

With the fourth wall separating the audience and performers  broken down early on, Mary Todd Lincoln describes the agony of losing eight family members – including her husband and several children – in a comparatively short time. She asks us in the audience if we have heard of her mental illness  An audience member is asked to join the cast to help decide whether the claim Lincoln was mentally ill is “Fair” or “Unfair.”

Another audience member plays a shell game with Lou Hoover, and when it is Pat Nixon’s turn yet another audience member will be asked to answer a series of questions such  as “Are you a good person?” and “Do you hate democracy or just kittens?” with one of two responses: “Yes” or “God Bless America.”

And there are inspirational figures like Michelle Obama, a First Lady who could trace her ancestry back to slavery.

The puppets designed by Rosser and Mastrati – Brooks Reeve serves as puppet captain, a credit you don’t often see —   are used to great effectiveness, especially with a “monster” puppet used to show the demonization of Hilary Clinton and in the piece devoted to Rachel Jackson.

The focus may be on the First Ladies, but first and foremost it is about the role of women in our society; again and again First Ladies such as Rosalynn Carter mention the states’ failure to ratify the Equal Rights Act passed in 1979.

And, of course, today the stakes remain high as the right of a woman to a safe, available abortion continues to be on the ballot.   

Director Robbins said in director’s notes that the notion that women still don’t get as much attention as men in 2024 is “devastating to me.” and compelled her to work on the play

Perhaps First Lady Sarah Polk, wife of James Polk,  said it best. “Someone decided to write ‘All MEN are created equal.’ On our country’s very first piece of paper.”

The Hub Theatre Company of Boston production of “46 Plays for America’s First Ladies.” Written by Chloe Johnston, Sharon Greene, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Bilal Dardal, and Andy Bayiates. Directed and choreographed by Ilyse Robbins. Produced by Lauren Elias. At Club Café,  209 Columbus Ave., Boston  through Aug. 3. Hubtheatreboston.org