‘Ruby Tuesday’ @ The Core Theatre
—Carol M. Rice
New plays are so important to the modern theatre scene, but they’re often hit or miss. The Core Theatre in Richardson produced playwright Mike Byham’s excellent award-winning play Southlake last July (you can read my glowing review of that one at Onstage NTX, too), so I was eager to see his new play Ruby Tuesday, directed by The Core’s artistic director James Hansen Prince.
Ruby has been directed to see a therapist after climbing out on the ledge of her eighth-floor office building. She claims she’s not suicidal, but instead that she saw a cat out there and wanted to save it from falling. It’s Dr. Jamie Allen’s job to find out the truth. Jamie is aided by his own therapist (he has his own problems) and mentor Dr. Ron Hook—and Ruby’s friend and co-worker Julie also gets involved, as she saw Ruby briefly floating off the ledge before coming back in. And then, we find out Ruby’s entire family was killed in a car wreck several years back, yet she was “thrown” from the car, completely unscathed. And then…she shows up at Jamie’s office window, several stories up.
Can Ruby possibly, actually...fly?
It’s an interesting premise that takes a little too long to unfold. We also find out that Ruby has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and only has a few months to live—but she feels fine and insists she isn’t sick. What’s more, she is adopted and doesn’t know anything about her birth parents. Could they have been aliens, a la Superman/Supergirl? There are just too many questions that don’t get addressed, and some of the scenes are repetitive yet don’t really add much to what we know.
Fortunately, the acting is top notch, and keeps us invested in the characters’ fates.
As the adopted daughter of hippies (who were obviously Rolling Stones fans) Ruby Tuesday Anderson is beautifully portrayed by Jennifer Nachazel, whose realistic, easy-going delivery makes us instantly fall in love with her and believe her story. She’s funny and sincere, and lets the more emotional scenes play out naturally without milking them.
As therapist Jamie, David Huner comes across as pretty stilted at first, which works well for his character, but as he warms up to Ruby and falls in love with her, he loosens up considerably. He and Nachazel have nice chemistry together.
Tony Magee plays the curmudgeonly Dr. Hook (yes, that joke is in the play) as somewhat overly protective of Jamie, but also as the lone voice of reason. Even as grumpy as the character is, Magee is able to make him likeable. But should one’s therapist also be a mentor? Their relationship seemed odd to me, even after a sudden reveal by Jamie about his childhood.
Equally protective of Ruby is Julie Richardson, played by Bri McKay, who does her best to warn her friend against getting involved with her doctor—but she supports her choice when Ruby doesn’t listen. McKay is the ideal best friend, and gives a warm, believable performance.
Prince, in addition to directing, is the set designer, and has created a fascinating space that literally folds into three different areas. As cool as this is to see, the many scene changes drag the pace down. McKay also acts as sound designer, and using the same instrumental loops of “Jumping Jack Flash” for every one of the scene shifts doesn’t help.
While I love going to see new works and always encourage everyone to support plays they aren’t familiar with, Ruby Tuesday still needs some rewrites: the story needs both tightening up and a few plot clarifications. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t go see it, as it’s a unique idea and the acting alone is worth seeing.
WHEN: June 26-July 19, 2026
WHERE: 518 West Arapaho Road, Suite 115, Richardson TX
WEB: https://thecoretheatre.org/
