HOME (2006 REVIVAL)
HOME
Wolfentertainmentguide.com
by William Wolf
December 8, 2006
The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) previously did a reading of ?Home,? but now is presenting it as a full-fledged revival, a welcome step, as the same cast has the opportunity to make David Storey?s play even more poignant. It is a lovely, sensitive production that leaves one deeply moved, although the play is also at various points rich in humor.
I looked back on what I wrote about the reading and I think what I said then applies now, except that the praise is even more emphatic upon seeing this done in play form rather than as a reading, even though TACT readings are generally so well executed that they come across almost like a fully developed production.
Storey?s play is a difficult one to stage because it is quite ephemeral and delicate with room for an audience to explore its meaning. ?Home? is ultimately a sad play involving lost souls living in what becomes increasingly clear is a mental institution. Simon Jones and Larry Keith are remarkable in their portrayal of two men who converse elliptically abut their memories, their lives and various aspects of the present. Storey allows us to ponder which parts they may be inventing, which they are not.
Jack (Jones) and Harry (Keith) might be two well-dressed gentlemen meeting somewhere on a park bench. As we learn where they really are the conversations become more touching. It is all very wistful, and by the end of the play, they cut such very lonely figures. Both actors are brave, considering the memories of John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson having done the play on Broadway in 1971. But Simon and Keith bequeath us new memories for the exceptional work they do here in illuminating the characters and touching us deeply.
During the course of the play, sensitively directed by Scott Alan Evans, Jack and Harry meet up with two women residents of the home, Cynthia Harris as Marjorie and Cynthia Darlow as Kathleen. They are counterparts to the men, although Marjorie has a tendency to be feisty, upset and at times quite funny in her complaining. Kathleen, with aching feet, nonetheless laughs a lot and is flirtatious, but can turn momentarily hostile. Both actresses are moving in their interpretations of these women trying to cope and make the best of the reality of their lives, which like those of the men, are going nowhere.
The most obvious mental case is Alfred, who moves about the property picking up and carrying lawn furniture?a chair and a table--which he enjoys lifting as if he were a circus strongman. Ron McClary plays him with exactly the right solemnity. At Theatre Row?s Beckett Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, $20. Phone: 212-279-4200.