Eureka Day

by Jonathan Spector

SET opens Season 17 with Eureka Day at the Fifty-Niner Speakeasy

Set at a progressive private elementary school in Berkeley, Eureka Day begins in the well-meaning world of community values, inclusive language, and collective decision-making. But when a mumps outbreak forces the school to confront its vaccination policy, the community’s carefully maintained harmony begins to crack. What starts as a meeting about public health quickly becomes a brutally funny look at certainty, identity, privilege, and the limits of good intentions.

Eureka Day is a comedy about people who want to do the right thing and discover that agreement is easier to perform than to practice. Spector’s play reveals how fear, love, ego, and principle can all live in the same room, especially when children, safety, and community trust are at stake.

“Eureka Day is funny because it is honest,” said director and executive producer Jodi Papproth. “These characters are trying so hard to be thoughtful, generous, and fair, but the stakes keep rising. The play asks what happens when the language of community is not enough to hold a community together.”

Cast

Stephen Alan Carver as Don: A well-meaning principal devoted to consensus, inclusion, and keeping the community together, even when the crisis demands clearer action.
Ali Burrow as Suzanne: A deeply invested longtime member of the Eureka Day community, fiercely protective of the school’s values and convinced that every voice must be heard.
Kegan Pike as Eli: A parent and board member eager to preserve harmony, smooth over conflict, and keep the school’s idealistic culture intact.
Carla Brown as Carina: A newer parent and board member whose practical questions challenge the group’s assumptions about process, responsibility, and what the community owes its children.
Lachlan Bentley as Meiko: A thoughtful parent and board member whose personal stakes become impossible to separate from the school’s larger debate.
Chris Lumpkin as Winter: A newer member of the Eureka Day community whose arrival suggests that the school’s struggle between ideals and reality is far from over.

August 13 – 30, 2026

Thursday – Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. on August 23 and 30
Special Pay-What-You-Will performance on Monday, August 24 at 7:30 p.m.

The Fifty-Niner Speakeasy

The Dice Guys Game Store

2409 W Colorado Avenue

Colorado Springs, CO 80904

Tucked into historic Old Colorado City, The Fifty-Niner is a hidden speakeasy behind The Dice Guys Game Store. Guests should enter through The Dice Guys on West Colorado Avenue and let the retail clerk know they are here to see the show. Come early to have dinner and drinks before the show.