There Is a Happiness That Morning Is

In a dilapidated lecture hall on the campus of a crumbling, crummy liberal-arts college, we hear two competing presentations on the work of the Romantic poet William Blake. It quickly becomes clear in Bernard and Ellen’s temporally shifted talks that we’re seeing the aftermath of a scandalous assignation; the longtime lovers were seen by practically the whole campus the night before in an act of public sex. In subtly, smartly rhymed verse, Mickle Maher’s new play serves as both a primer on Blake and a critical inquiry into his work’s themes. Goosed by precise, masterful performances by Colm O’Reilly and Diana Slickman, Maher’s text is almost endlessly engaging and frequently hilarious.