Stage Review - Biosphere (Bellingham Theatre Works)

Stage Review - Biosphere
Presented By: Bellingham Theatre Works - Bellingham, WA
Show Run: January 16 - January 25, 2026
Date Reviewed: Saturday, January 17, 2026 (Opening Weekend)
Run Time: 2 Hours (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

I’m sure you’ve had this happen: you’re fully aware of something while it’s unfolding, even interested in it, and then time does what it does. Decades pass, and suddenly something jogs your memory and your first thought is, “Wow. I completely forgot about that. I wonder whatever happened to it?” That’s exactly my experience with the Biosphere 2 project — the ostensibly self-contained ecosystem (ecosystems, more precisely) conceived with the understanding that Earth itself was the first biosphere, and that this new experiment would serve as its successor. It was designed as a proof of concept for human colonization beyond Earth: the Moon, Mars, perhaps even an asteroid. The idea was both elegant and seductive — that humanity might live in a sealed, self-perpetuating environment with no outside interference, either to supplement life on Earth or to replace it once we inevitably damage the planet beyond repair. It’s a notion that has threaded itself through decades of science fiction, from films set in space stations to Matt Damon farming potatoes on Mars. Completed in 1991, Biosphere 2 was meant to be the blueprint for that future, but as with so many grand experiments, greed, power, politics, and the influence of an eccentric billionaire quickly derailed its original mission. Though the facility still exists today as a laboratory operated by the University of Arizona, none of the foundational hypotheses behind its creation were ever fully realized.

All of that context matters, because Biosphere, the new play written by Steve Lyons and produced by Bellingham Theatre Works, is far less interested in the mechanics of the experiment than it is in the moral oxygen surrounding it. Directed by Mark Kuntz and running at the Firehouse Arts and Events Center through January 25, the play uses the Biosphere 2 story as a framework to examine ethical absolutism versus pragmatic compromise — asking, repeatedly and pointedly, what happens when idealism collides with ego, power, and the very human need to control outcomes. The characters at the center of the play are largely aligned in principle, but fractured in execution, and the script is keenly aware that morality, when filtered through ambition and authority, becomes a moving target rather than a fixed point. What begins as a utopian scientific endeavor slowly reveals itself as a crucible, testing not only ecological sustainability, but the sustainability of ethics under pressure.

What the playwright does especially well here is capture the essence of the conflict without attempting to replicate the reality one for one. Rather than burdening the play with strict historical fidelity, Steve smartly distills the Biosphere story to its most resonant elements. The crew inside the Biosphere is reduced to four individuals, even though the real mission began with eight, and while the actual project encompassed more ecosystems than those referenced onstage, Steve understands that accuracy of impact matters more than accuracy of inventory. By focusing on a smaller group and a select few ecosystems, he sharpens the ethical questions at the heart of the story — questions of control, compromise, sacrifice, and unintended consequence — allowing them to land with far greater force.

That clarity is reinforced by Mark Kuntz’s creative staging, particularly in how communication between the sealed-off crew and the outside world is handled. Characters positioned outside the Biosphere are often elevated upstage, while the downstage performers turn outward, facing the audience as though it were a video monitor. The effect is quietly powerful: the audience becomes both witness and intermediary, underscoring the emotional and ethical distance between those living inside the experiment and those exerting influence from without. Within the physical confines of the space, the production nevertheless suggests a conceptually vast environment — one that feels expansive not because of scale, but because of how precisely the relationships and power dynamics are staged.

The modularity of the set is one of the production’s quiet triumphs. Designed by Mark, the scaffolding framework immediately evokes what one expects from this kind of construction — whether grounded on Earth or imagined in orbit — and feels wholly appropriate for a contained, engineered environment like the Biosphere. The structure is familiar without being literal, allowing the audience to fill in the gaps, like looking at an abstract work of art and understanding exactly what is being presented. Mark smartly sections off individual quarters for each of the four crew members while keeping the center open to suggest shared, communal space. Despite the absence of interior walls, movement through the module is fluid and clearly delineated, making it easy for the audience to suspend disbelief and understand exactly where they are at any given moment.

The design and construction of the set takes on an added layer of usefulness late in Act Two, when the action shifts out of the Biosphere entirely. With the repositioning of just a few elements, the environment transforms seamlessly into a press interview setting or a café table, reorienting both the actors and the audience without interrupting momentum. This flexibility is supported beautifully by projections designed by Meredith Perry and Allissa Flood, which provide location oriented details for each new location and reinforce the shift in context. Costume design by Beth Vonnegut further enhances that sense of transport, with choices that reflect the informality of the crew’s private moments as well as the more controlled, environmentally secure atmosphere of the lab itself.

From an acting standpoint, the production leans heavily on the performances of the crew living inside the Biosphere, and it begins most compellingly with Breann Dunivent as Bonnie. A doctoral candidate whose dissertation focuses on the behavior of coral reefs within the Biosphere’s controlled environment, Bonnie is deeply invested in the experiment’s success from both a scientific and personal standpoint. She is also the first character through whom we sense that something is wrong. As oxygen levels begin to drop, her debilitating migraines return, introducing the earliest fracture in the crew’s unity. Where Breann excels is in navigating Bonnie’s internal conflict — torn between her physical well-being and the academic future she has spent years building. When both her fellow crewmates and the program’s administrators pressure her to leave the experiment, effectively placing her doctorate in jeopardy, Breann makes that dilemma feel urgent, personal, and very real. Bonnie’s fiancée, Dino, is played by Robert Frederiksen, and the chemistry between the two is immediate and convincing. Their scenes together, particularly conversations about Bonnie’s future and the cascading effects it would have on Dino’s own role in the program, are among the play’s most poignant moments. Dino ultimately becomes the de facto liaison between the crew inside the Biosphere and the outside world, whether communicating with the media or relaying information from the program’s leadership. His becomes the voice of the group, and Robert handles that responsibility with a steady, understated authority.

Threaded through all of these relationships is Alan, the billionaire founder of the Biosphere project and leader of a group known as the Synergists — an organization that increasingly resembles a cult. Matthew Twining delivers the strongest performance among the supporting cast as Alan, expertly capturing the unsettling combination of charm, eccentricity, and quiet menace. It becomes clear that Alan has cultivated personal relationships with each of the crew members, who defer to him on nearly all matters, regardless of whether his guidance is sound. As the gatekeeper and overseer of all communication between the Biosphere and the outside world, Alan carefully curates the public narrative of the experiment, and Matthew makes it abundantly clear that this is not a man you want to cross.

Of Alan’s handpicked Biosphere crew, Linnaea Groh plays Caitlin, the anchor of the group. Though not a scientist, Caitlin brings practical knowledge and problem-solving abilities that prove vital as challenges arise with increasing frequency. Linnaea plays her with an authority of purpose, tempered by an undercurrent of self-doubt, particularly in how Caitlin perceives her own value within the group. It is Alan, notably, who reinforces her importance — a dynamic that subtly underscores his influence over the team. The internal ensemble is rounded out by Dany Shaw as Helen, the standout performance in an already excellent cast. Helen has been involved with all of the Synergists’ projects, making her inclusion in the Biosphere a no-brainer. Dany brings a vibrant, volatile energy to the role — a character who longs for the outside world while remaining fully committed to whatever project she is currently working on. Helen speaks her mind freely, much of it laced with innuendo, and she is easily the largest personality in the room. Crucially, she is also far smarter than she lets on, and Dany allows that intelligence to surface selectively, giving the performance a layered quality that makes Helen both unpredictable and deeply perceptive.

Rounding out the ensemble are Logan Hyer-Long as Chad, Donovan Martinez as a reporter both covering and challenging the Biosphere project, Kellyann Walbeck as Astrid Storm, and Terry Sacks as Professor Nolan. Each contributes effectively in support of this thoughtfully constructed story, reinforcing the external pressures and institutional forces that shape — and ultimately strain — the experiment at its core.

With Biosphere, Steve Lyons has created a play that works not because it recreates a historical experiment, but because it interrogates the human impulse behind it. This production understands that the real story isn’t about whether a sealed ecosystem can survive, but whether the people inside — and those controlling it from the outside — are capable of putting collective responsibility ahead of ego, ambition, and image. What Steve and director Mark Kuntz have crafted here is a piece that feels intellectually rigorous without being academic, theatrical without being overstated, and deeply relevant without ever preaching. It’s a play that feels relevant even forty years after the experiment on which the story is based has concluded, and it’s a reminder of what can happen when an original work is given the time, care, and trust it deserves. Biosphere is thoughtful, compelling storytelling — and very much worth the drive.

Biosphere, written by Steve Lyons and produced by Bellingham Theatre Works, runs on stage at the Firehouse Arts and Events Center in Bellingham through January 25. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://www.bellinghamtheatreworks.org/biosphere.

Photo credit: Anna Olsen