SpeakEasy's Paul Daigneault – A Man of Some Importance to Boston's Theater Scene

Looking over the production history of SpeakEasy Stage Company – a massive catalogue of more than 150 shows – it's hard to miss a couple of recurring themes. One of them is the company's unhesitating embrace of ambitious musicals, many in Boston premieres. Amongst them are "Violet," "Floyd Collins," "Merrily We Roll Along," "Hello, Again," "Bat Boy: The Musical," "Once," "Fun Home," "Caroline, or Change," "Parade," "Next to Normal," "The Scottsboro Boys," and "A Strange Loop."

Then there are the plays with an LGBTQ+ bent, either in theme or authorship: Joe Mantello's "The Santaland Diaries," based on the iconic holiday essay by humorist David Sedaris; Paul Rudnick's classic AIDS-anxiety play "Jeffrey" (the company's first financial success); Robert O'Hara's brash, rollicking "Bootycandy"; Joshua Harmon's "Significant Other"; Richard Greenberg's baseball drama "Take Me Out"; plays by Charles Busch ("Red Scare on Sunset," "The Divine Sister"); queer-tinged musicals ("Far from Heaven," "Johnny Guitar," "Reckless!," "The View UpStairs," "The Drowsy Chaperone"); and queer-themed plays ("End of the World Party," "The Dying Gaul," "The Last Sunday in June," "The Little Dog Laughed"). Even Claire Booth's famously catty "The Women." Perhaps the crowning achievement was the Boston premiere of Matthew Lopez's epic, two-part "The Inheritance," which won the company two Elliot Norton Awards in 2023.

That's not even taking into account the works of the late queer pioneer, playwright Terrence McNally, to whose canon SpeakEasy has turned time and again starting with "Love! Valour! Compassion!" and "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" in 1995, and followed by "A Man of No Importance" in 2004, "Kiss of the Spider Woman" in 2006, "Some Men" in 2007, and now a revisitation of "A Man of No Importance" in a new, one-act version, which is set to run Feb. 21 - March 22. The production boasts a roster of some of Boston's most acclaimed performers: Kathy St. George, Will McGarrahan, Aimee Doherty, Eddie Shields, Kerry A. Dowling, and Sam Simahk are among the show's marquee names.

"A Man of No Importance" tells the story of a Dublin bus conductor named Alfred Byrne, an unmarried man in his mid-40s who lives with his sister Lily (also unmarried, thanks to Alfred's perpetual bachelorhood). Alfred finds creative fulfillment in staging plays at a local church, but his plan to bring Oscar Wilde's "Salome" to life triggers a backlash, and he has to reckon with the unspoken reasons for his being a bachelor. The shade of Oscar Wilde – and Alfred's own secret affection for handsome bus driver Robbie Fay – point to the inescapable fact that, as a gay man in the early 1960s, Alfred's choices are severely constrained... until, that is, an act of courage breaks those shackles.

The revised version of the beloved musical – which is based on the 1994 Suri Krishnamma movie starring Albert Finney – will mark the final directorial project of Founding Artistic Director Paul Daigneault before he leaves SpeakEasy after more than three decades at the company's helm.

"It's very bittersweet," Daigneault tells EDGE. "I mean, I'm having these moments where I'm feeling so much joy, and then so much sadness about leaving at the same time, but it's been such a wild ride and so worth it."

The musical's themes of anti-gay social sentiment and moralizing censorship of the arts feels acutely of the times – a resonance that Daigneault says wasn't on purpose, but a matter of his having "a knack" for timing.

"For sure, the idea of community coming together and persevering through making art is a theme of the play, and the main character discovering his authentic self throughout the play, and entering the world as that person, is also very relevant now and forever, but especially now," Daigneault muses.

From its founding in 1992 – in the middle of a recession, Daigneault recalls, though "I was so young and poor that the recession wasn't bothering me because I didn't have any money to begin with" – to its current status as a longtime company in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts and a driving force on the Boston theater scene, the history of SpeakEasy Stage Company is also a major part of the history of theater in Boston in recent decades. EDGE caught up with Daigneault to hear his thoughts on how Boston's theater scene has changed, the artistic and personal meaning of the shows he's programmed for so many seasons, and what he's looking forward to next.

EDGE: It feels appropriate that this is the last play you direct before you step down as Founding Artistic Director of the SpeakEasy Stage Company.

Paul Daigneault: The themes of the play resonate very much with me. [Like Alfred], I'm never happier than when I'm in rehearsal with artists, creating theater. To do a show that is literally about creating theater was part of the reason why I chose it. And then, also, I wanted to choose a show where I could work with many of my favorite artists. There are so many favorite artists in Boston that I couldn't possibly work with them all, but there are quite a few in this production who I adore.

EDGE: What are the ways you've seen Boston theater change?

Paul Daigneault: When I started SpeakEasy in 1992, we couldn't get the Boston Globe to come and see our work for quite a few years, mostly because Boston theater was fixated on touring productions and the two large companies, but the mid-size and fringe [theaters did not get much notice].

EDGE: That certainly changed! Is that something that SpeakEasy cleared the way for?

Paul Daigneault: We were one of them, for sure. There were others – Theatre Offensive, the Lyric, New Rep. A lot of it had to do with programming choices. We were doing musicals, sizing these big musicals for an intimate space, which audiences seemed to really love, and giving shows that had been hits in New York future life in this city for more audiences to see.

EDGE: Was doing big, ambitious musicals in a mid-sized space your vision from the start?

Paul Daigneault: It wasn't. It was more like I was the young director who wasn't being given a lot of opportunities, so I decided to create them for myself. I'm a big musical theater fan, so I wanted to do these shows that I really loved. I always say, especially when I teach directing, that a good director embraces their parameters, so instead of keeping all of the huge elements of a show that was on Broadway, or in a bigger venue, I was thinking about, "How can you make it work better in an intimate space?" That's what we've been trying to do over the past 25, 30 years.

EDGE: You mentioned you wanted to invite back some of your favorite artists, you've worked with over time. Were there people that you had had in mind and just couldn't get hold of them?

Paul Daigneault: You know, you can't do a show with 60 people in it, because you couldn't afford it. I had to pick a show that had the most opportunity for [casting] and I had to honor the show too. I had to cast the characters appropriately. And also, there was a skill set needed here. Many of the actors need to play instruments, so I had to take that into account, too.

EDGE: You mention in your notes to the show that two of the cast – Wyatt Anton and Ronan Green – are appearing in their first professional jobs in Boston, and you taught them as students. Was it especially satisfying to include these young actors, since SpeakEasy has had a hand in launching the careers of so many theater makers?

Paul Daigneault: Yeah. I feel like my life's work, when I can, is to give young people a chance to launch their careers. These two young people are incredibly talented, so their careers would be launched without me, but just to have this moment where they're working with Kathy St. George and Will McGarrahan and Aimee Doherty, and all these fantastic people, and watching them learn from them, is just so wonderful.

EDGE: When you look at how SpeakEasy has done so well and grown into what it is now, do you feel like it was a miracle? Do you feel like it was fated? What's your sense about that?

Paul Daigneault: My artistic growth mirrored this company's artistic and financial growth. I was super lucky to surround myself with very smart business-minded people who helped it grow. I do think it's a bit of a miracle, but steady growth over time was the key to its success.

EDGE: Was there a moment where you thought, "This is really taking off!" or where you felt that a show that had brought you to a turning point?

Paul Daigneault: Yeah, there are a couple, like Paul Rudnick's play "Jeffrey" in 1995 – that was our first Boston Globe review. Not that everything's about reviews, but that was the first time we got press, and we definitely saw it at the box office. And then "Bat Boy: The Musical," in 2002, was our first major hit that ran several times. We brought it back twice. That really put us on the map. A lot of our longtime supporters tell me that the first show they ever saw at SpeakEasy was "Bat Boy."

And, you know, plays that chronicled the lives of gay and queer men have been very important to me, and those also have been important to others, and have been a benchmark for us – "Love, Valor, Compassion," and other Terrence McNally plays like "Some Men" and "Lips Together, Teeth Apart." So, there have been shows that have launched us to the next level, for sure.

EDGE: You have done a lot of Terrence McNally's plays over the years. He was famously in a relationship with Edward Albee at one point, and the lives of queer people is a major theme in his work. As you contemplated the last play you were going to direct before leaving SpeakEasy, was that another factor that came to mind?

Paul Daigneault: I wasn't specifically thinking about having to do a play by Terrence, but it really sweetened the pot. I love working on his plays, and he was very supportive in his lifetime of SpeakEasy. His husband, Tom Kirdahy, was very helpful in helping us make this happen in Boston.

EDGE: What's the reason for leaving your role with SpeakEasy now?

Paul Daigneault: I have been talking with my board about it for quite a few years, and I thought that this year would be good. And, you know, I gave the theater community in Boston over a year's notice [chuckles].

I want to leave SpeakEasy thriving. I want to leave it in a place where a new leader can come in and launch it to its next phase. I am feeling like I've done my work, and I want to move on to some other things – spend more time with my husband, who lives in a different city now for his new job. I just feel like there's more to do in my life. I don't know what that is yet, but that's something I will explore. More importantly, I think a new leader will bring energy and vision to SpeakEasy – not change its mission, but take it to new levels, which will be exciting.

EDGE: Even though you're departing your current role with SpeakEasy, my guess is that you won't be a stranger to the Boston theater scene, and maybe not even to SpeakEasy.

Paul Daigneault: We'll see. I'm going to take six months to a year off from directing theater, because I want to decompress and recharge my batteries. If some theaters will have me, then perhaps, yes, I will come back. But I also want to make sure that the new artistic director has time to put their roots in the ground and align their identity with SpeakEasy and not have me breathing down anybody's neck. So, we shall see.

"A Man of No Importance" runs at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts from Feb. 21 - March 22. For tickets and more information, follow this link.