By Design
Written by Shelby Fairchild; Directed by Janet Bentley
AMT Theater | 354 W 45th St., New York, NY
August 1 - 3, 2025
Photo 1: Left to Right – Mary Sheridan, Tameka Bennett | Photo 2: Left to Right – Elizabeth Rose, Ken Orman | Photo 3: Left to Right – Wasim Azeez, Emily Grace Zeller
Photographer: Samori Etienne (IG: @_amanforallseasons)
Inspiring the spirit beyond the tragedy of existence, By Design, a new play by Shelby Fairchild, takes the stage at the Broadway Bound Theater Festival.
Through the Records Room, a Train Station, a Mansion, and of course, the Graveyard and Cemetery, Alé, known in the written text as Alessandra, desires to learn more about her mother, who disappeared. The truth must be somewhere.
Traversing between Everywhere, Somewhere, and Nowhere, we feel the sting of worlds that have been crossed without adequate examination. Are public records really the right place to find the answers? While Alessandra wishes that it could all be there, in black and white, her conflicts reach greater resolution via her personal contacts - a work cohort, a father, or a partner who might piece together a second hand “account” that will suffice for the loss of memory. With so much in writing, what exactly is the need for a Reader?
Alessandra, portrayed by Elizabeth Rose, is petulant then comforted as she discovers an emotional life typical of a young woman scorned or abandoned. The father, played by the tall, commanding Ken Orman, is technically called the Scientist, however, his real quest isn’t explaining disappearance or death. His failure to connect is salient. Where Am I, becomes a central dramatic question. We encounter The Survivor and The Optimist. Though character names lead us toward a theatrical space where we can embrace an intense anxiety without recollection, a competing impulse toward kitchen-sink drama actually weighs down the poetry of the work.
Not to be under-recognized are the exemplary steps towards gender balancing, age defying, and ethnic understanding by Director Janet Bentley. Present in the sound design is all of the gusto and emotion that grounds and locates the players. A dancer adds elegance within the framework while archetypal forms are hinted at. When Syntche, a ghost-like form of the mother, played by Mary Sheridan, finally graces the stage, it provides emotional support to strive beyond this desperate drama of loss, all too pervasive in 2025.
The Broadway Bound Festival, originally founded in 2016, empowers Playwright/ Producers to wrestle with their notion of our contemporary world. By Design closed on August 3rd. It was playing at the AMT Theater, located at 354 W. 45th Street in NYC.
Review by Marcina Zaccaria.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on August 5, 2025. All rights reserved.