'Grand Concourse'

Dedicating one’s life to the service of others is no small potatoes, but sometimes the reality of the work can be tough to swallow. Such is the case for Shelley in SpeakEasy Stage’s Grand Concourse, a world-weary nun working in a Bronx soup kitchen. Jaded by what she’s grown to see as a fruitless battle to do good and struggling with her relationship with God, Shelley (played by prolific local playwright/actress Melinda Lopez) finds her faith and her patience tested by the arrival of a new volunteer—a young woman who breathes new life into her fellow volunteers and the diners. She also stirs an already complicated pot, however, and Shelley soon suspects she may not be all she seems. Get a taste of the action at the BCA’s Calderwood Pavilion, where the drama plays through April 1.