Review by Joe Siegel

“Hieroglyphics Currency: Tips for Surviving the Economic Apocalypse” is a satirical commentary on American capitalism and the people who suffer as a result.

Written and directed by Lenny Schwartz, the play takes on many subjects, including our inadequate (to put it mildly) health care system, political opportunism, and people’s disdain for science and objective reality.

Padriag Mahoney is Ray, a good-natured everyman who is down on his luck. Ray has suffered a health scare and reevaluates his life. He has almost no money and wants a way out.

An AI-generated image of Amelia Earhart (played with tremendous charm by Christina Myers Mills) inspires Ray to create hieroglyphics currency – a special type of crypto-currency. Ray soon gathers some investors and he becomes very wealthy in the process.

“I’m changing the world,” Ray boasts before announcing his candidacy for President of the United States.

Ray’s political philosophy sounds a lot like socialism – he wants everyone to have financial equality.

Ray’s friend Nico (Derek Laurendeau) resists Ray’s ideas and urges him to submit to the whims of a tyrannical government.

Mahoney is solid and believable as Ray, who reconnects with a former classmate Shira (Liz Merritt) with a secret. Their relationship turns into a romance. Mahoney and Merritt are sweet and engaging in their scenes together.

Dan Martin gives a showstopping performance as a bloviating presidential candidate named Fred. With a hideous-looking comb-over and vocal inflections similar to Tony Soprano, Martin delivers a darkly funny impersonation of our current President – pompous, egomaniacal, and generally uninformed.

Lionel Lafleur exhibits a streak of uninhibited lunacy as a sycophantic aide to Martin. Rolling on the stage like a dog in heat, LaFleur is hilariously demented.

Schwartz crams a lot into a two hour show. He skewers climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers, greedy doctors, closeted gay conservative politicians, and MAGA supporters. There’s even a reference to “insecure theater actors.”

The overarching message is simple: our economic system is rigged in favor of the wealthy. Ordinary people are getting crushed with astronomically high health care bills. The price of everything is out of control. All sentiments I agree with.

For any writer, it’s a herculean task to make fun of the current Presidential administration. We have a President who wants to put his name and image on everything. Our Health and Human Services Secretary is a total fruitcake who snorts cocaine off toilet seats. How do you parody a parody?

Still, it’s amazing how well Schwartz succeeds at mocking our absurd political climate. He gives us a funhouse mirror of humanity which is irreverent and amusing.

The closing scene ends with a glimmer of hope as Ray and Shira dance together. They haven’t given up their dreams of a more compassionate society and neither shall we.

Hieroglyphics Currency: Tips For Surviving The Economic Apocalypse runs through May 9. Daydream Theatre Company. Performances at Bell Street Chapel in Providence, RI. Runtime is 2 hours with intermission. Performances begin at 8 pm. Tickets are $18 online at events.com. $20 at the door.

Padriag Mahoney and Emily Lamarre. Courtesy of Lenny Schwartz.

Julian Trilling.