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.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



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.



Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here


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: My Name is Lucy Barton

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 @ 6:30pm
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre


 

The

The Mallard

Thursday, July 17, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

The

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

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street, Middletown, NJ 07748
category: theatre


 

The

The Mallard

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

Good

Good Riddance; A Gnarly Murder Mystery Dinner, Dude!

Friday, July 18, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Carteret Performing Arts Center
46 Washington Ave, Carteret, NJ 07008
category: theatre


 



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





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

The

The 7th Annual Rogue Theater Festival to Present 37 New Productions

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Rogue Theatre Festival (RTF) returns with a bold and eclectic lineup for their 7th annual celebration of new works. This year, the festival will showcase 37 original plays and musicals, including fully staged productions, short plays, staged readings, and digital streaming performances. The Flea Theatre in Tribeca hosts this year's festival with performances running August 4-10, 2025 running in association with Abingdon Theatre Company. Staged Readings will be performed in The Pete theatre, series of Shorts and Fully Staged productions will take place in The Siggy at The Flea.



Without

Without a Clue Productions presents "Mrs. Roper Romp" and "A Golden Girls Murder Mystery: A Family Affair" at Resorts Casino Hotel

(ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) -- Without a Cue Productions heads to the Jersey Shore this summer with two cult classics coming to Atlantic City. Come for the caftan muumuus and stay for the Janet and Jack Tripper cocktails, as Mrs. Roper Romp brings the wild 70s fun to Resorts Casino Hotel. Don your best Mrs. Roper costume (and red curly haired wig!) and win fun prizes as you play party games and dance to Yacht rock inspired by the iconic hit show Three's Company. From the 70s to the 80s and early 90s, get ready to celebrate your favorite Golden Girls.



The

The Theater Project presents Kaleidoscope Kabaret 2025 in Summit

(SUMMIT, NJ) -– Six playwrights. Fourteen actors. Three singers. A band.



The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare' Extends Its Run in Madison, NJ

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey (STNJ)'s summer offering is The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again]. It is a fast paced, high energy, and humorous presentation of the works of The Bard.



Brookdale

Brookdale Summer Shakespeare presents William Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

(LINCROFT, NJ) -- Brookdale Performing Arts Center's Summer Shakespeare returns for its 23rd season with a free production of one of William Shakespeare's most gripping and haunting tragedies, Macbeth. This annual outdoor event continues to be a beloved tradition, offering free, high-quality theater to the community in the scenic setting of the college's Great Lawn. Performances run July 10-13 and July 17-20, 2025.