SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Home
|
I love the land, the soft beautiful black sod crushing beneath my feet. A fertile pungent soil. A soil to raise strong children on. I love the rain. That feeds the earth. It's especially nice in May. — Cephus (part of a lyrical opening monologue in which he shares his love for the farm).
|
Kevin T. Carroll and January LaVoy
(photo by Richard Termine) |
Despite being vehemently naïve as well as perverse about the vicissitudes of life and the exigencies of human nature, the play's bucolic message is no less disarming with the passage of time. Even without the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle nominations and citations it garnered in 1980 after it opened at the Cort Theatre on Broadway following its initial run at NEC, Home is, in many ways, self-validating.
Lyrically mixing prose and poetry, Home is not exactly free of pretension, nor is it meant to be. But it is filled with the kind of home-spun humor and tender sentiment calculated to touch us without becoming in the least maudlin.
Raised in North Carolina, Williams uses the state for the play's opening and closing setting. A rustic impression is conveyed by set designer Shaun Motley. A wooden porch is the most identifiable structure among the wooden slats, steps and levels that remain constant during the action and serves the play effectively (as does Michael Chybowski's lighting) despite changes in location.
Within this design, the play's skilled blend of acting, movement and a bit of music is accommodated with a gentle grace. For this we can thank the direction by Ron OJ Parson who keeps the pastorally-textured story moving along its largely narrative path.
The story, which takes place from the late 1950s to the present, is punctuated with episodes of gritty gaiety that follow and define the quixotic journey from adolescence to adulthood of Cephus Miles, a young farmer who must learn lessons about the true values of life.
Disillusioned with his life on the farm his grandfather and uncle have nurtured, and then depressed when his first love Pattie Mae forsakes him for college and another life, Cephus finds himself aching to leave home. But Cephus, influenced by the thou shall not kill teachings of his Sunday school teacher, is imprisoned for five years for desecrating the American flag when he tries to evade the draft at the start of the Viet Nam war. During that time he is deprived of his farm for back taxes.
Lured by the promise of fast life, his seduction by loose women and drugs in the big city, Cephus soon loses control. The playwright, however, believes in miracles and makes them happen quite naturally. The improbability of the play's denouement is hardly a factor. Even God, who Cephus believes has been on vacation in Miami, returns after a sojourn of fifteen years to his home in Crossroads, North Carolina and in time for a happy ending.
Just as Cervantes loved his errant but valiant knight, Don Quixote, Williams obvious loves Cephus. He restores a kind of simple nobility to Cephus after his journey in the cruel, unjust world and eventually leads him home.
Cephus is played with a wholesome robust romanticism by Kevin T. Carroll. It's a portrait of a remarkable, if undereducated man who faces his ordeals and disappointments head on and, as often as he can, with a sense of humor— a born storyteller with his tales of cemetery crap-shoots, hog stealing and late-nite fish fries. Carroll, who was so excellent in the role of the harmonica-playing Canewell in August Wilson's Seven Guitars at Signature, is giving an endearing performance, most notable for the nuanced narrative that gives life to his story-telling.
Tracey Bonner and January LaVoy have the concerted task to serve as a Greek chorus as well as to portray multiple male and female characters. The device works beautifully considering the play's fanciful construct, and the ability of these nicely contrasted actors to transform themselves.
LaVoy, who played the dour waitress Risa in Wilson's Two Trains Running at the Signature, most significantly plays the role of Cephus' true love Pattie Mae Wells, a character whose return brings about the play's most startling revelation. Bonner, who is making her Signature debut, is a bundle of energy and ingenuity as she jumps from character to character, but none more affecting than as Cephus' friend Tommy through a letter sent from the jungles of Viet Nam.
While Williams assures us that there is no place like home for Cephus, it is hard not to think about all those who, in the leaving of it, didn't make the better choice.
|
Home By Samm-Art Williams Directed by Ron OJ Parson Cast: Kevin T. Carroll, January LaVoy, Tracey Bonner Set Design: Shaun Motley Costume Design: Ilona Somogyi Lighting Design: Michael Chybowski Soundscape and Vocal Arrangements: Kathryn Bostic Running Time: 1 hour 45 minutes no intermission The Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space, 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenue) (212) 244 – PLAY (7529) All regularly-priced single tickets ($65) are available for $20 (made possible by Time-Warner) during the regular runs of each production for the entire season. Performances: Tuesday at 7 PM; Wednesday – Saturday at 8 PM; Matinees Saturday & Sunday at 2 PM. Added shows 12/17/24/31 at 2 PM. Opened 12/07/08 Ends 01/04/09 Review by Simon Saltzman based on performance 12/06/08 |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. |
South Pacific
In the Heights
Playbill 2007-08 Yearbook
Leonard Maltin's 2008 Movie Guide
