BC premieres new work by alumni playwrights
Two Boston College alumni playwrights will showcase their talents on campus this semester when their new work Cleveland Circle premieres at the University’s Robsham Theater ArtsCenter.
Featuring a cast of eight performers, the new work by 2023 graduates Aidan O’Neill and Lily Telegdy explores the web of human connections through the lens of 20-somethings living in Boston, in the titular neighborhood near BC. Cleveland Circle will be presented at Robsham’s Bonn Studio from March 21-24 as part of the RTAC/Theatre Department spring line-up.
Lily Telegdy
“The road to happiness is marked with jarring potholes and unexpected detours,” the play’s description states, as the protagonists “grapple with life’s basic questions.” Some are as trivial as where to get a good cup of coffee. But others are troubling and complex: “Who am I really? What is the right thing to do? Is there life after 30?”
Though neither describe the play—inspired when they were undergraduates in part by the great unknown of life after college—as autobiographical, “there are many traits about myself I see in the characters, and I share many of their fears about the future and being an adult,” Telegdy said.
O’Neill concurred. “The overarching sense of ‘what to do next’ is definitely true to our experiences. I lived in Cleveland Circle for two years during my time at BC; it’s a special place to me and it perfectly fit the transitory, circular nature of our play” as a backdrop to the characters’ stories, struggles, and connections.
Aidan O'Neill
The duo were frequent collaborators during their undergraduate years as theatre majors. They began writing Cleveland Circle during senior year as their thesis project with Professor of Theatre Scott T. Cummings, who is directing the play. He first directed their work in 2022 as part of a “New Voices” showcase of original plays.
“I’ve developed a number of new plays at Boston College by students or former students, but this is the first time I am directing a play written by two people,” Cummings said. “It’s different. It’s almost like there are three playwrights: Lily, Aidan, and the curious blend of their voices.”
Though Cummings describes them as very different people, “they have symbiotic sensibilities,” he said. “At this point, when I’m working on the script, I don’t remember who wrote what at first—unless I come across a real Lily-ism or Aidan-ism. They definitely have distinctive senses of humor.”
“Working with Scott again means so much to me,” Telegdy said. “Ever since I met Scott, he has encouraged me as a playwright, and working on ‘New Voices’ was one of the most rewarding experiences. We started writing this play in an independent study with Scott, and he is as important to Cleveland Circle as either myself or Aidan.”
“Scott was one of my favorite professors, biggest mentors, and a frequent collaborator,” O’Neill said. “He’s still all of those things and a great friend as well, so it’s a joy to work with him. It wouldn’t be happening without him.”
Of their continued collaboration, Cummings said: “I’ve worked with each of them for years: two semesters of playwriting when they were sophomores, a year developing their separate one-act plays as part of ‘New Voices 2022’ in their junior year, a joint independent study in their senior year, and now work on Cleveland Circle when they are out in the world and confronting ‘life after college.’ It’s a privilege to have sustained working relationships like this and to see them grow not just as playwrights but as people, too.”
Both are happy that Cleveland Circle will premiere on campus.
“It makes me really excited that this play is premiering at a college,” Telegdy said. “It feels right: that a play about what’s it’s like to be a young person is first presented to young people, by young people.”
Added O’Neill, “It’s weird but very exciting to be coming back to BC and premiering this play. Since I just graduated in May, it’s certainly a bit of déjà vu, but I love and am so thankful for the BC theater community, so it’s pretty special.
“One of my favorite parts of the whole Cleveland Circle process has been co-writing with Lily. You don’t frequently get to co-write with someone and it’s been a very special collaboration with a great friend.”
Both are pursuing careers in theater: Telegdy, a drama teacher and technical director, focuses on theater for young audiences, and plans to continue work as a playwright; O’Neill has a job in events in addition to theater work as a long-term pursuit.
For more information on the production, including performance times and ticket prices, see bc.edu/theatre. For tickets, go to bc.edu/tickets or call the RTAC Box Office at ext. 2-4002.