"Wilbury Theatre Group's production is witty and unsettling, emotionally charged in ways that creep up slowly and steadily.”
​- MOTIF

ABOUT

THE COMEUPPANCE

BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS​
DIRECTED BY DON MAYS

From the boundary pushing, Tony Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (An Octoroon), this electrifying comedy is a meditation on impermanence, nostalgia, and isolation.

Directed by Don Mays (Fat Ham, God Talks to An Agnostic) The Comeuppance finds five former classmates on the eve of their 20-year high school reunion. Fueled by adult jungle juice and pot, they reminisce at a porch pre-party that hangs on a porous border with the other side.

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NEWS & MEDIA

“The Comeuppance” debuted off-Broadway in 2023 and received widespread critical acclaim. It is getting a thoroughly engaging R.I. premiere at Wilbury Theatre under Don Mays’s direction...“The Comeuppance” is a sobering and tension-filled piece of storytelling for sure, but in true danse macabre fashion and consistent with Jacobs-Jenkins’s previous works, we also get to briefly laugh at death. This talented cast handles the sobering and the sardonic with equal aplomb, along with the playwright’s infamous verbosity. And we get to eavesdrop...All the performances are top-notch, though Witherspoon’s Emilio is particularly and perpetually appealing and Mascaró as Paco serves up the most intense and enthralling of Death’s pop-up manifestations."
​-The Boston Globe
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"Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ “The Comeuppance” is a darkly comic, post-pandemic reunion drama that cuts with the precision of a scalpel and the force of a gut punch. In The Wilbury Theatre Group’s riveting production, five former high school outsiders gather on a front porch in suburban Washington, D.C., ostensibly for a drink before their 20th reunion...Wilbury’s production is a triumph of ensemble work, direction, and dramaturgical insight. It leaves you wondering what a follow-up play twenty years from now might look like—and what challenges Gen Z will have weathered by then. “The Comeuppance” is meaningful theatre at its finest: urgent, unsettling, and deeply human.
- The Providence Eye
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"Throughout this witty and politically sharp two-hour one-act, a familiar through-line persists: Death. Here, Death is personified, weaving itself through the story and speaking through the characters from the shadows...The Wilbury’s space feel even more intimate, enveloping the room and making every seat worth the price of admission twice over. ..As an ensemble, this cast shares terrific chemistry...Ultimately, the physical intimacy created by Osborne’s towering set and Russ’s atmospheric lighting serves a greater purpose than just aesthetics. It traps the audience on that porch with the characters, forcing us to confront the same exhaustion and “unprecedented” history that defines them. What makes this play so brilliant is its honest exploration of a generation exhausted by the current age. What makes the Wilbury’s production great is its clear vision, exceptional design, and an ensemble that balances the script’s ridiculous absurdity while still finding relatable humanity in each character."
- The Poplar Review

"Don Mays’ direction is sharp, and the entire cast works incredibly well together as an ensemble. There is a palpable friction among them throughout the uninterrupted two-hour running time that continuously builds yet effectively breaks on occasion with moments of silliness and affection—like motioning to crack each other’s necks when whoever is speaking gets too serious—that can only be shared with lifelong friends. Having the action take place on the front steps of a house (exquisitely represented by set designer Scott Osborne) cements the bond between them, where they can't help but feel completely at home with each other—for better or worse."
- Broadway World

"Wilbury Theatre Group’s production is witty and unsettling, emotionally charged in ways that creep up slowly and steadily so that the tonal duality of humor and dread might coexist...Amid the quiet hum of political and personal disillusionment, the production captures how history, both national and interpersonal, presses and shapes us. In the gap between who they were and who they’ve become, they explore themes of aging, mortality, nostalgia and the impact of national tragedies...The Comeuppance at Wilbury will have you reflecting on identity, the versions of yourself you’ve left behind, time immemorial, and the time you have left. It is a haunting that’s well worth your time."
- MOTIF Magazine
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"The staging runs two hours without an intermission...can they maintain a dramatic rhythm that doesn’t flag—one that invites us to stay curious about these characters as they undergo what Ursula calls “the dark ritual of the soul”? And can they ensure that Death’s cameo appearances are woven in to subtly sinister effect? They do. The proceedings are continually involving, each performer supplying sufficient dramatic weight and interacting as a credible ensemble of characters rather than caricatures. Against Scott Osbourne’s serviceable set, Christine Treglia evokes the soft steeliness of Ursula; Marcel Mascaró captures Paco’s creepy neediness; Jenna Lea Scott hints at the depression beneath Caitlin’s equanimity; and Francesca Hansen‑Dibello underlines Kristina’s self‑destructive rejection of what has become an unbearable reality. Rodney Witherspoon’s Emilio carries off the difficult task of being the perpetual questioner—the one determined to hold others to account when they only want to carry on in delusion."
- The Arts Fuse

​"Witherspoon, who gave a dazzling turn in last year’s “Angels in America,” is in top form here as well. Emilio instigates much of the conflict among the friends by dredging up events from the past. He’s self-righteous, abrasive, and hypocritical, but thanks to Witherspoon’s charisma, is fascinating to watch. Hansen-Dibello, making her Wilbury stage debut, effectively conveys Kristina’s inner torment and uncertainty about her life in an extended monologue. Kristina recalls the horror of the Covid pandemic, such as seeing refrigerated trucks with dead bodies parked outside the hospital. Treglia brings a great deal of warmth and humanity to Ursula, who has a secret of her own. “The Comeuppance” works when we simply see the friends interacting. They are torn between reliving the past and moving forward with their lives. What’s best about the play is knowing the awkwardness which can result from seeing old friends again. They may have changed and their feelings about life may have changed as well. People either grow up and evolve into better human beings or they don’t. Either situations get resolved or they continue on, destined to haunt us to the very end."
- New England Theatre Blog

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“What makes the Wilbury's production great is its clear vision, exceptional design, and an ensemble that balances the script's ridiculous absurdity while still finding relatable humanity in each character.”
​- The Poplar Review

CAST + CREATIVE TEAM

Francesca
Hansen-DiBello

Christine
Treglia

Marcel A.
Mascaró

Rodney
Witherspoon*

Jenna Lea
Scott*

THE COMEUPPANCE
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Don Mays

Sound Design by Catherine Ashley
Set Design by Scott Osborne
Light Design by Andy Russ
Costume Design by ​Dustin Thomas
​Asst. Direction by Michael Yussef Greene
​
Stage Manager, Natalie Rosario*
Asst. Stage Manager, Ollie Crowe
Costume Assistant, Arianna Davey

Production Manager, Monica Shinn
Technical Direction, Jason Sall
Production Interns, Z. Ferrara and David Zincone

​Production Photography by Erin X. Smithers
​Press / Media Inquiries: Niki Healy

​*Appears courtesy Actors' Equity Association, ​the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

“ What's best about this play is knowing the awkwardness which can result from seeing old friends again.  Either situations get resolved or they continue on, destined to haunt us to the very end.”
​- The Wrap

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright, producer and Pulitzer Prize winner (for his play Purpose). His plays include Girls, Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience), and Neighbors (The Public Theater).

​Most recently he was the showrunner, executive producer, and writer for Hulu/FX’s drama series, “Kindred,” based on Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking novel. A Premiere Resident playwright at Signature Theatre, his honors include USA Artists, Guggenheim, and MacArthur fellowships, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award and he currently serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council. He teaches at Yale University.

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2025/26 SEASON

Learn more about Season 16 at Providence's home for groundbreaking artists and adventurous audiences, including our 2025/26 Main Series productions and special events! Rhode Island premieres of Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds and Girl from North Country by Conor McPherson with music by Bob Dylan, the New England premieres of Dave Malloy's Chamber Musical Octet and Lilana Padilla's How to Defend Yourself and the world premiere of From Here to Where by Umberto Crenca with music by The Gillen Street Ensemble.

2025/26 Season

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An award-winning, not-for-profit professional theatre company, the Wilbury Theatre Group engages our community in thought-provoking conversation through new works, reimagined classics and adventurous playmaking. We are idealistic, ambitious, and stubborn in our resolve to create theatre that entertains, enlightens, and inspires.

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