"The Getaway Driver" - by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston - Central Square Theater (Cambridge, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Rebecca Gibel as "Katherine Ann Power" in a scene from "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22, 2026. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“I can’t be truly present because my past haunts me."
- ("Katherine Ann Power") / Deborah Salem Smith, Charlie Thurston
Central Square Theater
Presents Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston's
"THE GETAWAY DRIVER"
A Rolling World Premiere with Trinity Rep and Northern Stage!
Written by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston
Directed by Curt Columbus
Cast Includes: Rebecca Gibel* as "Katherine Ann Power," Rachael Warren* as "Clare Schroeder."
Understudy: Lee Mikeska Gardner*
Additional Creative Team: Scenic and Costume Design - An-lin Dauber+; Lighting Design - Christina Watanabe+; Associate Scenic and Costume Design - Kyle J Artone; Sound Design - Kaileykielle Hoga, DJ Potts+; Video Design - Peter Sasha Hurowitz; A1 - Raven Flaig, Timothy Fine; Stage Manager - Rafi Levavy*; Assistant Stage Manager and Wardrobe Supervisor - Jack Douglas Riter; Lighting Supervisor - Matthew Breton; Technical Director - Al Gentile.
*Indicates the actors and stage managers as members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
+Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE.
Performances:
October 29, 2026 through November 22, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. 02139
TICKETS:
# 617-576-9278
https://www.centralsquaretheater.org/shows-events/season-tickets/
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
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(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Central Square Theater (CST) brings a gripping true crime story to Cambridge, recalling the events of a long-time local fugitive in "THE GETAWAY DRIVER."
The CST two-hander memory play begins in 1968 and follows two women, each impacted by tragic events that haunt them both through 1998 (and, most likely, to this day).
The CST production, directed by Curt Columbus in alliance with Trinity Rep and Northern Stage, is a Rolling World Premiere and, as the play continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see where it ultimately lands with audiences.
Written by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thursto, the real-life saga focuses on a single tragedy forever impacting the lives of two young women: Katherine Power (Rebecca Gibel) and Clare Schroeder (Rachael Warren).
Gibel is absolutely compelling as Power, caught up in an armed robbery gone violently wrong, fleeing and living under assumed aliases for 23 years.
Her crime?
On September 23, 1970, Power was "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" for a bank robbery at State Street Bank on Western Avenue gone wrong.
The robbery resulted in the death of Boston Police Patrolman Walter A. Schroeder, a father of nine (including Clare), shot and killed by one of her accomplices.
(Photo: Rebecca Gibel as "Katherine Ann Power" in a scene from "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22, 2026. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)
According to the indictment against Power, she and her group of anti-Vietnam War activists (and former convicts) - Susan Edith Saxe, Stanley Bond, William Gilday and Robert Valeri - robbed the bank at gunpoint.
As Schroeder arrived on the scene, he stepped out of his cruiser and was shot in the back with a .45 slug and later died.
Clare would find out about her father’s murder while in class at school, quickly being forced into a more adult role as a result, thus altering the course of her life from that moment.
At the same time, Power immediately fled the scene of the crime and traveled across the country, alienating herself from her parents, family and friends for over two decades.
That single pivotal, albeit unexpectedly violent moment, not only changed the lives of Katherine Power and Clare Schroeder forever, but it also handcuffed them to how their lives would ultimately progress.
As Clare, Rachael Warren gives an arresting, sympathetic portrayal of Officer Schroeder’s daughter, who would become Waltham Police Department's first female police officer.
Clare’s perspective (at least as written here) ensures accountability and provides a more balanced depiction of events, so audiences do not perhaps assign more sympathy to Power than is deserved.
In "THE GETAWAY DRIVER," while Power reminds us of the violence that came with the Vietnam era, Clare reminds us that a man’s life – her father, her mother’s husband, and father to her eight siblings - was violently cut short.
(Photo: Rachael Warren as "Clare Schroeder" in a scene from "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22, 2026. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)
According to Power, who, in 1993, eventually turned herself in, she wrestled with her guilt over the tragic events of that day.
However, that still did not stop her from fleeing the scene, assuming various aliases and beginning a new life as a wife and mother under a completely fabricated identity.
It also was 23 years later before she surrendered.
Audiences for "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" will need to review the evidence presented on both sides before drawing their own conclusions over just how much sympathy should be bequeathed to Power.
The scaffolded CST set includes objects used to reflect various archival events including a driver’s seat from a 1970’s car.
Interlinked in the scaffolding are multiple old television sets broadcasting real news footage of political events of the 1960s up-to-and-including the robbery.
Other distinctively placed objects along the set include a semiautomatic rifle, a gas can, a wig, assorted pairs of eyeglasses, and a multitude of other props detailing the events.
The play walks a very thin tightrope in its attempt to ensure both sides are being presented in a fair and balanced way, and it very much succeeds.
(Photo: Rebecca Gibel as "Katherine Ann Power" in a scene from "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22, 2026. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)
There were a couple of moments late in the play using recorded voices which I personally wish hadn’t happened:
One was at a parole hearing as the Power and Clare share the stage in a scene together for the first time, and we hear an unseen parole board member speak.
A similar scene had Power speaking on a prison phone to her unseen son.
I would have instead either like to have seen the actresses portray the voices of these characters live on stage or have the scenes handled completely differently, as the additional voices seemed to “pull us out” of the moment the two performers spent nearly 90 minutes establishing for us.
Otherwise, CST's "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" is a powerful, impactful story conveyed by two superb actresses.
(Photo: Rachael Warren as "Clare Schroeder" in a scene from "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston, now playing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22, 2026. Photo Credit Nile Scott Studios)
For "THE GETAWAY DRIVER" by Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston the pursuit is ongoing at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA. until November 22nd, 2026.
Coming up after the holidays for CST will be Tom Stoppard's "ARCADIA" beginning February 4th and running through February 28th, 2027.
For tickets and more information contact Central Square Theater at # 617-576-9278 or visit www.centralsquaretheater.org
BUY TICKETS
Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
A Rolling World Premiere with Trinity Rep and Northern Stage!
Based on the true story of Katherine Ann Power and Clare Schroeder, in Deborah Salem Smith and Charlie Thurston's "THE GETAWAY DRIVER," this gripping new drama follows two women bound by a single, life-altering moment.
It’s 1970.
College student Power joins an activist group to protest the war.
When their resistance turns deadly, Schroeder must grow up in the shadow of her father’s murder while Power disappears and spends decades on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
Years later, when Power resurfaces seeking redemption, she must confront Schroeder and the past that shaped their lives.
Unfolding like a true crime thriller, this remarkable story asks:
How far is too far in the fight to do what’s right?
ABOUT CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER
CENTRAL SQUARE THEATER (CST) is dedicated to the exploration of social justice, science and sexual politics through theater; catalyzing the dynamic synergies sparked by the collaboration between The Nora and Underground Railway. Through award-winning productions, the Catalyst Collaborative@ MIT Science Theater Initiative, and youth development programming – CST creates theater where points of view are heard, perspective shifts, and change can happen.
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA. 02139
# 617-576-9278
