New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

Review of "Ants" at New Jersey Repertory Company


By Gary Wien

originally published: 02/14/2013


(LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- As a guy married to someone in academia, I never imagined the concept of a college professor sleeping with a student very funny; yet, there I was last Saturday night laughing -- quite often -- during the world premiere of "Ants" by Saviana Stanescu at New Jersey Repertory Theatre. This quirky comedy takes a look inside the world of ants, offspring, and how our two species are more alike than you'd think.

The play revolves around Kara and Mia, two sisters who have emigrated from Eastern Europe to a college town in America. Mia is a doctoral student currently working on earning her PhD in biochemistry. As the play opens, we see her practicing the speech she hopes to give someday when she wins the Nobel Prize for her work with ants. Shortly thereafter, Kara returns home. She tells her sister that she's just been fired from her job at the factory -- a place where she toiled for years, struggling to make payments on everything from the mortgage to her sister's education. As the two are knee deep in bills, Kara tells Mia it's her turn to be the breadwinner. Adding to the equation is the news that Kara is pregnant.

"I'm so tired of pushing toward the American Dream, I'd rather have my own little nightmare," says Kara.

As much as Mia loves ants, her sister despises them. She isn't even sure if she wants to keep the baby, but Mia does. She constantly draws parallels between the ant world and humans, and drives Kara nuts with her talk -- much of which does sink in. Mia says Kara is a "queen" now and promises to find a way to earn money. While doing so, she comes up with a hilarious outreach program to prevent Kara from getting an abortion. Meanwhile, Kara spends most of her time being sick or reading her fortune from tarot cards.

The pregnancy lights a fire under Mia to earn the fellowship she's been after, which would solve their economic dilemma. Meanwhile her advisor/professor teeters on sexual harassment charges with playful slaps of her butt and sexual innuendo remarks. Mia devises a plan to utilize these advances to blackmail her advisor while simultaneously changing the project she's working on with her instructor to the one she really wants -- radically altering nature by converting worker ants into queens -- a project she believes will ultimately lead to the Nobel Prize for her.

I'm someone that wouldn't normally find the subject of ants very interesting, but I was captivated by the project and the larger issue of nature versus nurture. Are the lives of ants really pre-determined based on their social class? Are the lives of humans? To really understand the implications of her project, Mia decides she must learn more about mating itself. With flyers around campus, she offers herself up to anyone who wishes to take part. One person responds, and the night changes Mia's life in more ways than one.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



Throughout the play, Mia lives her life as one would imagine a scientist to. She feels she can control her environment and change real-life situations as easy as she does in the lab. While nice in practice, she soon learns that life doesn't work that way.

This highly enjoyable play stars Maria Silverman as Mia; Carol Todd as Kara; and Michael Samuel Kaplan as Adam Kohn, the professor. Jeff Zinn directs. "Ants" runs at New Jersey Repertory Theatre (179 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ) through March 10.


Photo: Maria Silverman and Michael Samuel Kaplan by SuzAnne Barabas


Gary Wien has been covering the arts since 2001 and has had work published with Jersey Arts, Upstage Magazine, Elmore Magazine, Princeton Magazine, Backstreets and other publications. He is a three-time winner of the Asbury Music Award for Top Music Journalist and the author of Beyond the Palace (the first book on the history of rock and roll in Asbury Park) and Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. In addition, he runs New Jersey Stage and the online radio station The Penguin Rocks. He can be contacted at gary@newjerseystage.com.



Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info


FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Vivid

Vivid Summer Solos: Where is Everybody?

Wednesday, July 09, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre


 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre


 

The

The MAC players at the Middletown Arts Center present "Hairspray"

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: theatre


 

A

A Broadway Tour of America

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Grunin Center - Black Box Theater
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ 08754
category: theatre


 

The

The Wizard of Oz

Saturday, July 12, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Algonquin Arts Theatre
60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ 08736
category: theatre


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

The

The Summit Playhouse presents "Legally Blonde, The Musical"

(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Summit Playhouse presents Legally Blonde, The Musical across two weekends from July 11-20, 2025. This is a fabulously fun award-winning musical based on the adored movie, the musical, follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes and scandal in pursuit of her dreams.



Heartwarming,

Heartwarming, Classic Musical "Meet Me in St. Louis" Comes to MCCC's Kelsey Theatre

(WEST WINDSOR, NJ) -- Celebrate a year of romance, opportunity, humor and heartbreak with the Smith family, culminating with a milestone, historic event when the Yardley Players present Meet Me in St. Louis, July 11-20, 2025 at Mercer County Community College’s Kelsey Theatre.



"RIFT"

"RIFT" Returns To Luna For Two Nights Only Before International Debut At Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage's commissioned World Premiere play RIFT is headed to the Edinburgh Fringe for a four-week run at Traverse Theatre this August. On July 18-19, 2025 at 8:00pm each night, the powerful and timely new play returns to Luna for two benefit performances to support the company's travel to Scotland.



Music

Music Mountain Theatre presents the Broadway hit "The SpongeBob Musical"

(LAMBERTVILLE, NJ) -- Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants of course! Now he's riding the wave to Music Mountain Theatre in this hilarious original musical, based on the TV series by Stephen Hillenburg. When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy their humble town, SpongeBob and his friends unite to save their undersea world. Plunge into this stunning show and discover how the power of optimism really can save the world!



A

A New Musical, "Rocky Bumps," to Have Staged Reading in Haddonfield

(HADDONFIELD, NJ) -- An original musical, Rocky Bumps, will hold a staged reading on Sunday, July 13, 2025 at the Haddonfield Theater Arts Center Studio. The musical is a coming-of-age tale steeped in romance, risk, and retro charm. The reading begins at at 2:00pm.