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The Homecoming
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2011-03-16
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This article shared 4011 times since Wed Mar 16, 2011
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Playwright: Harold Pinter. At: Mary-Arrchie Theatre at Angel Island, 735 W. Sheridan. Phone: 773-871-1440; $18-$22. Runs through: April 10
They may be Lost Boys, but the household they inhabit is no idyllic Neverland: Old Max is too feeble to dole out any more than verbal abuse, leaving his angry son Lenny to enforce the masculine pack-animal hierarchy (the clan matriarch having earlier departed under mysterious circumstances). Meek brother Sam and body-conscious son Joey have adapted to this toxic environment, while eldest son Teddy escaped to forge himself an academic career. Now Teddy has returned home for a visit, accompanied by Ruth, his wife of six years and mam to his three children. But Ruth, weary of the scholarly life, sees possibilities for self-advancement in this colony of motherless men. And she doesn't like the way Lenny bullies his kinfolk.
Isn't that just like a woman, you may ask, to go for the bad lads? Or you might find in Harold Pinter's cryptic fable a case study in dysfunctional family dynamics passed from one generation to the next, with Teddy and his boys doomed to repeat the pattern. At its premiere in 1965, Ruth's capitulation to Max and Lenny's plan to set her up as a high-class prostitute was seen as affirmation of her weak moral character, but in 2011, she negotiates with cold-blooded savvy, inflicting demands on her would-be exploiters to ensure independent control over her futureand theirs, too. Oh, isn't it just like those ball-busting mommies, to prey on vulnerable bachelors?
Whatever interpretation you impose on these events, there is no denying that this brand of up-close-and-nuanced interaction is tailor-made for the Angel Island loft (where it was produced during the resident Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company's second season in 1987). Director Geoff Button is likewise well-versed in the misanthropic culture of the English working classesexpertise contributing to clearly-defined characters with immediately discernible motives. But though the production comprises a veritable showcase for ensemble-oriented performance, what rivets our attention is the charismatic presence of Michaela Petro, rapidly becoming the storefront circuit's go-to actress for velvet-gloved viragos. From her first entrance, garbed demurely in a pink coat thatwhattaya know?happens to match the room's decor, we know that her swaggering adversaries will be soon brought to their knees. |
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This article shared 4011 times since Wed Mar 16, 2011
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