The Late Christopher Bean
The Late Christopher Bean
Show Business Weekly
Michelle Zigas
November 19, 2009
Written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sidney Howard, The Late Christopher Bean has been revived by the Actors Company Theatre for the first time in New York since its 1932 world premiere. The show opens on a 2009 New York stage with a combination of literary merit and delightful performances.
A country family’s practicality crashes into the art world when the Haggerts, the former wards of the recently deceased Christopher Bean — whose artistic legacy is now worth millions — finds themselves embroiled in a New York City art deal of epic proportions. Emphasizing their removal from the so-called epicenter of the earth, their quaint rural New England living room is meticulously suggested through an intricate living room set in muted tones.
The talented cast turns in a terrific, comic rendition of Howard’s warm, well-written play. John Murtagh’s Dr. Haggertt is acerbic and practical; as his elder daughter, the slightly shrewish, almost-spinster Ada (whose money-fueled obsession with finding a husband is reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel), Kate Middleton brings her character into sharp relief with nuance and skill. Mary Bacon as Abby, the Haggerts’ housekeeper and the play’s moral center, lets vulnerability and kindness shine through a sharp-tongued, distinctly New England brogue. Strong performances from Cynthia Darlow, Jessiee Datino and Greg McFadden round out a charming cast.
Bean is a relevant tale for our times: as a Great Depression-era conversation over the value of art — both monetarily and on a human scale — wages in the Haggert household, the audience might find itself asking similar questions in desperate times. What value does art have in the face of bald money problems? Are not life and human connections more important than even that? Christopher Bean offers a thoughtful and nuanced approach to these questions.
One wonders how such a unique, delightful play could possibly have been lost to audiences over the years. Deft performances and keen witticisms abound in TACT’s production of Howard’s farce, and this rendition of The Late Christopher Bean makes for a great night at the theater.