Playwright: Richard Nelson
At: Goodman Theatre
Phone: 312-443-3800; $10-$35
Runs through: Dec. 23
Author Richard Nelson has explored the American character through works about labor leader Joseph Yablonsky, Herman Melville, Benedict Arnold and now architect Frank Lloyd Wright ( 1867-1959 ) . Set in 1923, Wright is in Los Angeles after the six-year tumult of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Wright has alienated his adult children, clients and his few friends, flagrantly violating moral principles and ethical scruples with love affairs and self-promotion. Now 55, Wright is without prospects when news comes that his brand-new hotel has collapsed in a great earthquake.
His children, clients, long-term mistress ( he's still married ) and friends know Wright always blames others for his personal shortcomings and professional failures, yet they brave his withering humiliations to seek his favor. Wright holds his son in contempt, and will connect with his daughter only if he dictates terms. Wright's mentor, the great Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, is in Los Angeles. Old and alcoholic, he wants his former pupil to employ him, but Wright puts him off. In the play's most obvious line, Wright says 'I don't do people' when he, his son and Sullivan begin to sketch landscapes.
Instead, Wright declares himself a beacon in an America bereft of innovation, independence and ideals. Wright denies responsibility for those crushed in his collapsed hotel, saying the hotel's beauty was enough. He needn't be a good person, Wright implies, if he's a great artist. The creative act, Wright declaims, is 'a moral act, a fine patriotic act, a religious act . . . . Beauty is NOT an act. It's life and death.' For a brief minute, Wright yields to a kinder instinct, singing a song to his children as he did when they were small. They embrace his unexpected warmth, but the Chekhovian moment is too painful to endure, recalling too much that's been lost.
Using irony and wit to conceal deeper intellectualism, Nelson gives director Robert Falls and star Peter Weller the Wright stuff to please an audience in this New York-bound world premiere. Physically, Wright dominates every scene he's in, isolated downstage by Falls; or standing while others sit; or moving while others are still. Weller, who bears a passing resemblance to Wright, plays the role with an intense arrogance and dismissive dryness. He seldom raises his voice in passion, dominating instead by disdain. ( Think John Houseman. ) The uniformly good supporting ensemble features local favorites Mary Beth Fisher as Wright's mistress and Jay Whittaker as his son.
In the end, Wright himself was his own monument. Early reports proved wrong ( fact ) : the Imperial Hotel survived undamaged, 'testimony to your genius' as the Japanese ambassador famously cabled Wright. Frank's Home ends with Wright quietly vindicated, his prickly genius intact and with three decades of achievement remaining. What Frank's Home offers, then, is a revealing snapshot of Wright rather than a comprehensive view.