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A CurtainUp Review
The Old Friends
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"We keep our money and our land. And I'm a fighter,
too, don't forget that. I don't forget nothing and I don't forgive nothing. . . But we're not going to fight, are we? Not two old friends." — Gertrude as she negotiates the purchase of the impoverished, recently widowed Sybil's jewelry. |
Hallie Foote, Betty Buckley and
Cotter Smith (Photo credit: Joan Marcus)
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Now the never seen The Old Friends has landed in the Signature's spacious Pershing Square home. Though the play has a long gestation history (different names, different versions), it wasn't until his daughter Hallie and Betty Buckley did a reading, that Foote did this new version in which Hallie and Betty Buckley are joined by seven other actors and Wilson is once again at the helm.
Foote's many fans are in for quite a surprise. The old friends and their various relatives are very different from the characters who usually people his Chekhovian landscape. They could easily be mistaken as kin to the greedy unhappy people in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. But not to worry. This is not copy-cat Williams or a terribly misconceived departure from Foote's more gentle world. It offers up two hours well spent with an enjoyable well-made play that is saved from going into over-the-top melodramatic territory by Foote's sensitive writing, Wilson's fluid staging and a satisfyingly large cast's finely nuanced performances.
Except for Foote's Sybil Borden (Hallie Foote) and her 80-year-old mother-in-law, Mamie (Lois Smith), this is a miserable, wealth obsessed, ungenerous bunch, their greed and discontent fed by too much liquor. Even the youngest character on stage, Tom Underwood (Sean Lyons), is willing to be the super wealthy Gertrude Hayburst Sylvester Ratliff's (Betty Buckley) obedient boy toy for a chance at a job with big money potential — a job currently held by Howard Ratliff (Cotter Smith) the younger brother of Gertrude's last and recently deceased husband who also happens to be Sybil's long-ago and never forgotten fiance.
While Sybil is thoughtful and gentle, she too is at the midpoint of an unhappy life — a life filled with pain over an emotionally and financially disastrous marriage and a lost baby and, yes, regrets about not having married Howard. As the play opens, she's on her way home to nurse her ailing husband and deal with their disastrous financial situation. But Hugo dies on the way which leaves Sybil at the mercy of her youth and good time obsessed sister-in-law Julia Price (Veanne Cox).
Julia's marriage to Albert (Adam LeFevre) is no bed of roses either, with little tenderness or devotion on either side. However, lack of money is not a problem. It's only to appease Albert who hates her mother that Julia has forced Mamie to sign over everything she owns, including the house Sybil thought she and Hugo owned.
So there we have one unhappy wife in desperate financial straits catapulted into sudden widowhood and even more intense financial problems. We also have an old woman unwelcome in her unhappily married daughter and son-in-laws's home but dependent on them. But, as already mentioned, this is a big cast. So there's also Buckley's monstrous Gertrude to ratchet up the complications.
Gertrude and Sybil's fathers were, true to the title, "old friends." But when his fell on hard times, friendship didn't keep Gertrude's father from taking him for everything he had. It was only the truer friendship of Mamie's husband that kept the Borden house out of the Hayhurst family's hands, at least until Mamie gave in to her daughter's demands to avoid being sent to a rooming house.
As we meet Gertrude, it's quickly evident that she's living up to her daddy's greedy, mean-spirited nature. What's more, she not just a recreational drinker but a heavy-duty drunk. She's also fixated on making Howard her fourth husband. Naturally she's not pleased to have Sybil, the love of his life, back on scene and unattached.
It's a kith and kin situation that could explode into something ugly or turn into one of those sweet rekindled romances to make up for thirty wasted years. I won't go into details about what happens, but let me reassure you that it's a real treat to watch this cast inhabit their roles in this beautiful designed production.
In an ensemble this strong it's hard to single out just one or two actors for special praise. Of course, there's Hallie Foote who's been a steady interpreter of her father's female characters. As these volatile Texans are a different than usual breed of Foote characters, so Sybil is quieter and more fragile than the women she usually plays. Foote's script and her portrayl certainly have you rooting for her to end up more settled and happy than when she first comes on stage.
Lois Smith, another veteran Foote interpreter, is touchingly believable. Buckley's Gertrude is as pitiful as she is hateful. Cox as Julia nails the self-absorption and desperation of a spoiled, aging pretty woman.
As for the men, Cotter Smith's Howard makes a strong case for our sympathizing with a man who's finally found his path to work that's satisfying and also yearns for a chance to reconnect with Sybil. Probably my favorite character, is Albert LeFevre as the Big Daddy-like Albert Price even though his reason for hating Mamie is a plot point that's never really explained and he has the scene that comes closest to over-the-top melodrama.
A curtain that morphs from solid blue to see-trough opens each act and each time reveal another authentically detailed and beautifully lit by Rui Rita set to establish the 1965 time frame. The 60s look is further enriched by David C. Woolard's costumes.
The limited run has already been extended by a week (the bargain $25 tickets last only through the production's scheduled run). Don't miss it.
For more about Horton Foote and links to other plays by him we've reviewed, see our Horton Foote Backrounder.
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The Old Friends by Horton Foote directed by Michael Wilson Cast: Betty Buckley (Gertrude Hayhurst Sylvester Ratliff), Veanne Cox (Julia Price),Adam LeFevre (Albert Price),Hallie Foote (Sybil Borden), Sean Lyons (Tom Underwood),Novella Nelson (Hattie),Melle Powers (Catherine),Cotter Smith (Howard Ratliff),Lois Smith (Mamie Borden) Scenic Design: Jeff Cowie Costume Design: David C. Woolard Lighting Design: Rui Rita Original Music and Sound Design: John Gromada Wig and Hair Design: Paul Huntley Fight Direction: Mark Olsein Choreographer: Peter Pucci Stage Manager: Cole P. Bonenberger The Pershing Square Signature Center/Irene Diamond Stage 480 West 42nd Street between Dyer Avenue & 10th Avenue From 8/20/13; opening 9/12/13; closing 9/29/13 extended before opening and now closing 10/06/13; then extended again for 10/20/13 closing Reviewed by Elyse Sommer Sept 8th press matinee |
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