Arts

Addressing the questions of poverty

by Jules Becker
Thursday Aug 11, 2022

Photo provided by Richard Ravosa.
Photo provided by Richard Ravosa.  

Mommy Are We Poor?, Six Corners Entertainment in association with David Bertolino Productions. Movsesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, through August 20. 617-923-8100. Intended for teens and adults.

Should an underpaid and struggling employee compromise her integrity to gain a promotion and more money for her family? Should she risk losing her job by filing a sexual harassment suit against her boss? These are the questions that torment working mother Chelsea in the Richard Ravosa play "Mommy Are We Poor?"—now in a somewhat moving world premiere at the Movsesian Center for the Arts.

While involving throughout and generally well-acted under Greg Allen's able direction, Ravosa's earnest drama ought to say as much about the impact of poverty on the family itself as on Chelsea's workplace issues.

As Ravosa observes in his playbill playwright's note, the play's characters are "a composite of the thousands of people I have encountered in the past twenty—five years as a practicing lawyer." In that light, widowed Chelsea and her children, hearing—impaired Aiden and older sister Julissa, are the kind of challenged family that the veteran bankruptcy lawyer has likely helped over the years. Admittedly Ravosa does present Chelsea's professional and personal dilemma with understanding.

Right from the start, Chelsea is dealing with a possibly impossible situation that her immediate office boss Clark will describe as Sisyphean. One moment she is losing a valuable restaurant shift. At another, she is facing a Christmas without a holiday bonus and no real presents for her children. Later the fairly resourceful mother will reveal how she compensates for the lack of heating oil deliveries by bringing home diesel oil as a substitute.

As for family dynamics, Ravosa's play ought to provide more substantial dialogue between Chelsea and her children. There are a few moments when Julissa challenges her mother's uneven attention to her and Aidan. Although essentially caring, Chelsea sometimes sends her children to bed (off-stage) instead of fully coping as a parent. Kristin Loeffler's scenic design does effectively establish black box zones for the office and Chelsea's meeting with Maegen, but the home area should have more detail.

Issues of sexual harassment and office conflicts fare better. Scenes dealing with Clark's manipulation of his position and Chelsea's compromises do move convincingly—from the latter's naïve trust regarding her boss' seeming generosity to a physical relationship and ultimately a dramatic face-off.

Unsurprisingly exchanges with a lawyer reflect Ravosa's expertise as Chelsea learns about her rights and her options regarding both bankruptcy and bringing suit against her boss.

What will Chelsea do? All along the play does establish this likable and harried protagonist as a tenacious and tough-talking woman who is unlikely to resign herself to frustration and despair. Even so, the eventual resolution involving Clark's estimable superior Ms. Allerton seems too neat.

Still, the strong cast—with one notable exception—keeps Chelsea's personal and professional odyssey absorbing. Lily Kaufman has all of Chelsea's vulnerability and growing confidence. She captures the working mother's personal growth as a woman as well as her generally engaging personality. Bill Mootos is a standout as initially charming but ultimately unlikeable Clark. Kaufman and Mootos have the right chemistry in their characters' romantic moments and sharp timing as Chelsea defends herself against Clark's offensiveness.

Rena Baskin is properly no-nonsense as Ms. Allerton. Alyssa Butterfield catches Julissa's attitude and appealing directness, and Jacob Moheban has Aiden's sweetness. The one disappointing performance is Ivy Jackson's incongruously low-key work as lawyer Maegan. Jackson needs to make Maegan more decisive and vocally forceful—especially as she tells Chelsea about her own experience as a mother.

The title "Mommy, Are We Poor?" may lead audience members to expect more about the children's challenges. Given a fine cast, Ravosa's play would be a richer effort with more attention to the family's realities.

All proceeds are being donated to the Massachusetts Debt Relief Foundation (MDRF)