A group of friends gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice together in the deep Upstate New York woods behind an old farmhouse. What begins as a casual, fun weekend quickly devolves into something more sinister; a power-struggle and then a game of survival that is by turns bizarre and shocking. Written as a Jonestown parable for the Trump era, playwright Susan Soon He Stanton explores themes of “group-think” and betrayal that instigate our deepest primal fears.

Solstice Party!, presented by Live Source Theatre Group, poses an interesting question over the course of its examination of true love (which never did run smooth): Is love a midsummer nightmare or an edible weed trip? In this play at A.R.T./New York Theatres, playwright Susan Soon He Stanton creates a draconian world where words and music conjure unseen forces from which no lover’s heart is immune. At the play’s outset, we find Pipi and Andrew setting up camp near the home of friends Dominic and JoAnn. Both couples are having relationship issues. Pipi (played with patrician anxiety by Phoebe Dunn) has lied to Andrew (played with a musician’s precision by Chris Ignacio) and sent him off to his grandmother’s funeral as high as a kite. Dominic, a French restaurateur, and his partner JoAnn have invited their friends to join them for a party on the Summer Solstice, but they too have grown weary of one another. Dom (played with casual grace by Patrick Andrew Jones) and JoAnn (played with comedic wit by Satomi Blair) have recently lost their restaurant and have moved upstate to survive financial hardship. They’ve relocated themselves next to an Ashram, which we eventually learn is someth …Read more