Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Opinionist: The Eaten Heart
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 3, 2007
Modified Apr 9, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Jun 3, 2007
Modified Apr 9, 2018
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Debate Society is a taut little theater triad comprised of director Oliver Butler and wizardly actors Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos. Their 2006 production, The Snow Hen, took a Norwegian folk tale about an abandoned girl and wove it into a charmingly dark tapestry of melancholy and mystique. Now they’re back at the Ontological Theater (Richard Foreman’s regular digs) with The Eaten Heart, an enchanting mood-play very loosely inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th Century tome The Decameron, which packs in 100 stories told over the course of ten days by ten people killing time during the Black Plague.
No familiarity with The Decameron required; The Debate Society employs Boccaccio’s picaresque as a springboard into their own portraits of contemporary isolation. In this mesmerizing two-hander - that might also be dubbed The Secret Lives of Seedy Hotel Rooms - Thureen and Bos slip seamlessly in and out of multiple characters at a roadside hotel. There’s the Renaissance Fair worker whose TV mysteriously plays without her bidding, the third rate magician fruitlessly practicing his “turn the TV on” trick in the adjacent room, the neglected wife of a radio evangelist and her coveted pizza delivery boy, the salesman who’s convinced the “voodoo” bikini briefs he picked up in New Orleans afford him invisibility. (Hysterical hi-jinks ensue.)
It may start out a little slow (depending on your state of mind), but the company soon envelops the room in their meticulously evocative spell. The sound design (Nathan Leigh) is marvelous and scenic designer Amanda Rehbein works wonders by somehow materializing three hotel rooms, a swimming pool, a cheesy cabaret, a kitchen and dining room in The Ontological’s cozy space. If all involved are at times a little too enamored with their own atmospherics, it’s hard to blame them; it’s boldly imaginative and spellbinding stuff, thanks in no small part to Bos and Thureen’s nuanced performances. As they race through their finely-drawn menagerie of characters, the duo multiplies into countless distinct incarnations of modern longing. At turns hilariously endearing and hauntingly sinister, their inspired mix of ingredients makes for a four star feast.
The Eaten Heart continues through June 9th at The Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Tickets cost $17.
Tagged
As
design
dining
hannah bos
new orleans
oliver butler
Ontological Theater
opinions
paul thureen
people
race
radio
richard foreman
snow
the debate society
The Secret
The Secret Lives
theater
tickets
tv
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 26, 2026
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
See the entire lineup for the weekend when the city opens its doors.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
NYC’s creative workers are increasingly self-employed, report says
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .