Busted Thermometer: When January Feels Like Summer

Small talk that begins with, “Some weather we’re having,” doesn’t bode well for meaningful conversation. Such is the doomed nature of Cori Thomas’ When January Feels Like Summer, which uses an unseasonably warm winter in Harlem as a means of bringing together its stock characters and having them deal with homosexuality, transgender issues, race, euthanasia, and, of course, global warming. The intention is to be touching and funny but it’s consistently sloppy and offensive and hardly worth the effort that Ensemble Studio Theatre and Page 73 have put into the production. Thomas’ play is set in “Harlem,” though it’s unclear where we are in that sprawling area of New York City. Manhattanville? East Harlem? It should make a difference, but like her characters, Thomas’ sense of location is generalized. “Harlem” is just enough to get the characters hanging out on the subway and in the bodega, though credit is due to scenic designer Jason Simms for creating realistic interpretations of those settings.