The Inheritance - Part Two

The Inheritance - Part Two

Ethel Barrymore Theatre

December 26, 2019

Photo courtesy of The Inheritance

Part Two of The Inheritance picks up exactly where Part One left off.  Playwright Matthew Lopez expands on his Part One examination of how we need to know our past in order to understand ourselves.  In Part Two he has his strongly established characters face the pasts they have long denied.  They make choices during the course of story that take them to a place where they are unable to avoid it any longer.  Mr. Lopez makes the statement that the only way to heal a hurting heart is to continue to risk.  He takes these characters to the edge of their hurt, forcing them to plunge into the danger of their own selves.  The actors portray these journeys truthfully and viscerally. 

Photo courtesy of The Inheritance

Henry and Eric’s relationship has deepened.  Henry asks Eric to marry him.  Henry’s conservative,  Republican point of view does not mix well with Eric’s friends, but he says yes to the proposal.  Toby shows up at their wedding with Leo, a young boy he has attached himself to, who is identical to Adam (and played by the same actor).  They are both drunk and high.  Leo recognizes Henry as one of his regular clients.  A physical fight breaks out as Eric’s friends try to protect him.  Henry later admits that he has used Leo’s services on a regular basis.  Eric realizes the truth of the situation he has gotten himself into. 

Lois Smith & Samuel H. Levine (as Adam)
Photo courtesy of The Inheritance

Eric returns to Walter’s house.  This time to care for Leo, who is HIV positive and in failing health.  We meet Margaret (played by Lois Smith), who is the caretaker for the now vacant house.  She tells Eric and Leo of when Walter called her because her son Michael was there, under his care and with only days left to live.  She arrived in time to share his final moments, and stayed to help Walter with the other men in need.  There were over two hundred who died in the house from complications due to AIDS.  She verifies Eric’s initial experience when he entered the house for the first time at the end of Part One.  It is in that house that Eric spends the rest of his life.  He comes to understand how the past brings us into the present, which allow us to welcome the future.

Playwright Matthew Lopez

Mr. Lopez has crafted mesmerizing monologues in his play.  The characters tell their backstory in numerous scenes throughout both parts.  These sections are skillfully written and masterfully directed by Stephen Daldry.  Each cast member who has the privilege of performing one of these monologues finds richness in every moment. 

The ending of the play goes full circle as the young man who stepped forward in the opening scene of Part One is identified as one of the main characters.  The story flows to a resolution that will open your heart.  You become a part of The Inheritance as you fully engage in the experience.  The magnitude of the story is built on a solid structure and surpassed only by the theatrical manner in which it is told.  It is a profound and inspired production.   

Domenick Danza

I Was Most Alive with You

I Was Most Alive with You

Playwrights Horizons

October 7, 2018

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Craig Lucas has written a masterpiece in I Was Most Alive with You, now running at Playwrights Horizons.  He parallels this narrative of loss, despair, and letting go with the Old Testament’s Book of Job.  Since one of the main characters is deaf, the production is “shadow cast” and told in American Sign Language.  A portion of the dialogue is projected when the characters communicate solely through signing.  The collaborative efforts of Sabrina Dennison, Director of Artistic Sign Language, and Director Tyne Rafaeli create a seamless and powerful piece of theatre.  The production is a monumental feat, fusing every aspect of design to engage and challenge the audience to join the characters on this brutal and gut-wrenching journey.

Ash (played by Michael Gaston and shadowed by Seth Gore) meets with his close friend and writing partner, Astrid (played by Marianna Bassham and shadowed by Christina Marie), to choose and develop a new writing project after months of hiatus.  Ash and his family have experienced a string of tragic events that have made it difficult for him to work, yet left him in great financial need.  In order to face the hardships head on, Astrid pushes Ash to write the story of the events of the past eighteen months. 

Michael Gaston, Lisa Emery, & Russell Harvard
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

It starts with a car ride to the home of Ash’s mother, Carla (played by Lois Smith and shadowed by Kalen Feeney), for Thanksgiving dinner.  They pick up Ash’s wife, Pleasant (played by Lisa Emery and shadowed by Amelia Hensley), and start to discuss the Bible, particularly the Book of Job, where Job loses everything and is left in total despair.  We meet Ash’s son, Knox (played by Russell Harvard and shadowed by Harold Foxx), getting ready to leave for the same Thanksgiving celebration.  He is deaf and a recovering alcoholic who is convincing his new boyfriend, Farhad (played by Tad Cooley and shadowed by Anthony Natale), to not drink or misbehave when meeting the family for the first time.  Being Thanksgiving, the family’s skeletons emerge.  Tragedy falls on them in three heavy blows, same as in the Book of Job.  It is revealed that Carla is dying of cancer and the family’s finances are in ruin, then Knox is severely injured in a car accident on the way home.  Act II brings more dire hardships.  As a result of the car accident, Knox becomes addicted to opioids and, out of despair, Pleasant leaves her husband and son.  Ash works feverishly to hold on and not relapse to drinking as he helplessly watches his son spiral into a dark place.  Astrid pushes Ash to write an ending to their writing project, thus relinquishing control of the final outcome of his life’s events.

The full cast of I Was Most Alive with You
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

By having the characters write their own story, Craig Lucas chose a highly theatrical mechanism that places the theme directly into the action.  It gives the characters a vehicle for self-examination as events unfold in front of the audience.  All the characters struggle with the need to control.  Ash and Astrid observe every scene, whether they are in the action or not.  The sense of control is always present, no matter how unpredictable and extreme the scenes turn out to be.  It is not until the climax of the play that we see Ash releasing his desperate need for control.  The sense of what he wants to occur is clear, yet his facing the need to accept what he cannot control is painful and cathartic.

Russell Harvard as Knox
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

This play is emotionally absorbing and intellectually riveting.  The full cast (main characters and shadow cast) is riveting.  They are fully present with one another in every moment, creating intense and genuine interaction.  I Was Most Alive with You is running at Playwrights Horizons through October 14.  See it!  You will be challenged on every level.

Domenick Danza

Peace for Mary Frances

Peace for Mary Frances

The New Group

The Pershing Square Signature Center

June 16, 2018

Photo courtesy of The New Group

Lily Thorne’s play, Peace for Mary Frances, chronicles the end of life journey and the toll it takes on a family.  The New Group production is sensitive and realistic.  Director Lila Neugebauer builds on the conflict in the family dynamic that is deeply embedded in Ms. Thorne’s complex characters.  Secrets are revealed and emotions collide, yet the main character finds her peace.

Mary Frances (played by Lois Smith) is nearing ninety years of age and requires oxygen and constant care, which she receives from her daughter, Fanny (played by Johanna Day).  Her other daughter, Alice (played by J. Smith-Cameron) believes that Fanny is incapable of caring for their mother.  When the doctor finds fluid in her lungs, Mary Frances, who wishes to pass peacefully in her sleep, chooses hospice care.  Alice convinces her mother to pay her living expenses so she can move in and supervise her care around the clock.  Their brother, Eddie (played by Paul Lazar), visits once a week to maintain his mother’s finances.  His sisters are angered when they find out their mother has been paying him to do this.  Adding to the stress of the situation is the presence of Alice’s two adult daughters (played by Heather Burns and Natalie Gold).  Their memories of their grandmother are loving, which differs from the angst in the relationship between Mary Frances and her daughters.  Mary Frances has visions of her dead husband, mother, and father-in-law as she makes her peace, yet she leaves behind a family in turmoil.

Lois Smith & J. Smith-Cameron
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The play has a slow and steady pace, especially in the second act.  Fueling the action is the conflict between the two sisters.  J. Smith-Cameron and Johanna Day go at each other full force in these roles.  The history of their relationship and the stress of the situation cause their emotions to flare up in an instant.  Their portrayal of this vulnerability is truthful and genuine.  Lois Smith is warm, brave, and gutsy as Mary Frances.  The way she treats her children reflects a lifetime of experiences and forgiveness, but includes, as she says, never forgetting.  She embraces her grandchildren and looks longingly into the eyes of her great grandbaby, maintaining a connection to life up to the very end.

Johanna Day, J. Smith-Cameron, & Heather Burns
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The set, designed by Dane Laffrey, is a split level masterpiece, showing the living room, kitchen, and back porch on stage right, and Mary France’s bedroom about a half a flight up on stage left.  It is constructed as if one wall of the house opened up so the audience could peer in on this family in crisis.  Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau makes brilliant use of track lighting, chandeliers, and table lamps to enhance the realism and sense of peeking in on the lives of the characters.

Lily Thorne’s play successfully reveals the stark truths of facing the end of life, its stress, fears, and deeply embedded emotion.  Peace for Mary Frances closed on June 17. 

Domenick Danza

Marjorie Prime

Marjorie Prime

Playwrights Horizons

December 19, 2015

Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Is virtual reality a mere reflection of projected thoughts, or does it have a life separate and individual from those programming it?  This is a question that arises from experiencing Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime at Playwrights Horizons.  The play is skillfully crafted and seamlessly directed to blur the lines between these realms.  The cast draws you deeply into their world and intimately connects you to their hopes and fears.

Tess (played by Lisa Emery) and Jon (played by Stephen Root) set up their aging mother, Marjorie (played by Lois Smith), with a prime of her deceased husband (played by Noah Bean).  The purpose for this is two-fold: first, to keep her company and second, to keep her memories alive.  A prime is a computer generated image in the likeness of a specific person.  This prime can interact as this individual when programmed with information about your relationship and details of your shared experiences.  Since perception frames most involvements, the truth of these interactions becomes questionable.  This is why Tess is skeptical of the effect these conversations have on her mother.  Jon is certain of the benefit they offer, since he sees improvement in Marjorie’s outlook.  He later understands Tess’s concerns when he has a need to develop a personal relationship with a prime.

Lisa Emery, Lois Smith, & Noah Bean
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

This play is all about relationship, and director Anne Kauffman has brought these four actors to a place where their interactions are truthful and sincere.  Lois Smith is superb as Marjorie.  She portrays the numerous layers of this aging character with strength, conviction, and detail.  Lisa Emery elicits great emotion and compassion as a woman who yearns for connection with her mother in order to resolve her deepest struggles.  Stephen Root’s character is continually warm, caring, and empathetic.  The chemistry between him and Ms. Emery is natural and dynamic.  Noah Bean emits a grounded calm that makes you understand why every character in the play willingly opens up and graciously reveals themselves to him. 

Stephen Root, Lois Smith, & Lisa Emery
Photo courtesy of Playwrights Horizons

Jordan Harrison's writing proves that a skilled playwright can lead you on a journey almost anywhere.  His dialogue is full of dramatic action that keeps you riveted.  The final scene of the play takes a stunning turn.  Can life’s most complex challenges be virtually resolved by merely combining streams of logic to given facts?  Marjorie Prime is extended at Playwrights Horizons until January 24.  See it and understand the depth and value of Marjorie’s simple statement, “How nice that we could love somebody.”

Domenick Danza