Driving in Circles: a Story of Healing through Rock Music and Comedy
Driving in Circles: a Story of Healing through Rock Music and Comedy
Solo show by BU alum Jay Eddy at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre through April 6
Writer and performer Jay Eddy (GRS’23) (center), with musicians Jordan Palmer (left) and Zach Fontanez in a scene from Driving in Circles, on stage at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre through April 6. Photo by Scornavacca Photography
This article was originally published in BU Today on March 21, 2024. By Emily Wyrwa (COM’26)
When you think of a “cross between a rock concert, confessional monologue, and stand-up comedy,” you’re probably not thinking about a story of overcoming childhood trauma. But if Jay Eddy wants their debut one-person show to do anything, it’s to surprise the audience.
Driving in Circles, written and performed by Eddy (GRS’23), who uses they/them pronouns, and on view at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre through April 6, tells the story of a protagonist sometimes called Jill and sometimes Bill, who’s on a journey to healing and love after experiencing childhood sexual abuse.
“I was really struck by the way that the show managed to consider the journey of coming to terms with having experienced something awful without describing traumatic events,” says Megan Sandberg-Zakian, artistic director of Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. “I think there are a lot of plays that tell the story of bad things happening, and not as many plays that tell the story of figuring out how to make a good life after bad things happen.”
Driving in Circles is the first show that Sandberg-Zakian chose to produce since she joined BPT in 2022. In her words, it’s a story about a character finding “love, connection, community, pleasure, and joy.” In Eddy’s, it’s a story about growing up, about loneliness, and about hope.
“It’s about learning how to let other people in,” Eddy says.
The show follows Jill/Bill as they navigate relationships that help them overcome childhood trauma. Instead of explicitly discussing what happened in the character’s past, the script focuses on how the character looks to move forward by investing in their friendships and relationships. Eddy uses the motif of driving, as they realized many of their own aha moments were behind the wheel of a car.
Since its inception 12 years ago, the show has taken many forms. It started as a folk opera with a different name, then morphed into a concept album in 2019 before coming together as a production that “interweaves live performance and video projection, as well as live music and tracked sounds,” according to Broadway World.
Two musicians join Eddy onstage, guitarist Zach Fontanez and keyboardist Jordan Palmer. The theater’s black-box configuration gave sound designer Gage Baker (CFA’24) a challenge, and according to Eddy, he rose to the occasion, rising the show’s doo-wop harmonies, folk influences, and pop-synths to unique heights.
“It’s going to be really exciting for audience members to be able to hear what will feel in many ways like a rock concert in this small intimate venue,” says Sam Plattus, the show’s director. While the two have worked together for years, this is the first time Eddy has performed a show solo, and the first time Plattus has directed one.
It’s going to be really exciting for audience members to be able to hear what will feel in many ways like a rock concert in this small intimate venue.
“Something that’s really exciting about a solo show is that, in so many ways, that scene partner is the audience,” says Plattus, who also uses they/them pronouns.
Eddy and Plattus wanted to devise a new sort of relationship between the performer and the audience, where viewers can feel free to get up from their seats if they’re struggling with the material—or simply if they have to use the bathroom.
“The show invites the audience to feel a connection to the experiences of this character and invites them to be a part of the character’s journey in a really wonderful way,” Plattus says. “It doesn’t ever really hold the audience at arm’s length.”
They hope the show lets the audience have an honest emotional reaction, whatever it may be. Eddy’s hope is that the show inspires watchers to connect more with each person they meet.
“What I want people talking about in their kitchen after the show is, ‘How can I show up more for the people who are already in my life?’” Eddy says. “This world has a lot of problems, but none of them are gonna get fixed if we can’t fix them together.”