Excerpted from The Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 17, 2002
Drama puts family under a microscope
By NANCIANN CHERRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
With gentle comedy and on-target observations, A.R. Gurney’s Children explores the games people play, both physical and emotional, with the ones they love the most.
Staged by the Village Players through Jan. 26, Children is one of the earliest plays of Gurney, who also wrote
Sylvia and Love Letters, favorites of Toledo theater-goers.
Events take place on a July 4 weekend in 1970 at a summer home on an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Matt Wiederhold’s set is deceptive: At first glance, it is a simple porch with patio furniture. As the action proceeds, however, the hints of "old money" become more obvious.
Visiting are Mother (Kate Argow) and her children, Barbara (Sarah Collier), Randy (Andrew Neary), and Randy’s wife, Jane (Laura Fleck). Barbara’s two children and Randy’s four are occasionally heard but never seen.
It is a way of life that is replayed every summer with only a few differences. Mother has become a widow, Barbara has discarded her husband, the children are getting older. Things look to go on as usual this particular weekend until Mother throws two wrenches into the family’s status quo: The first: Her youngest child, Pokey, is coming for the weekend with his family. Pokey almost never shows up at family gatherings, and his siblings wonder why he’s coming this time. Then Mother reveals the second bomb: She and "Uncle Bill," a family friend, plan to wed.
Pokey’s potential presence sets off varying reactions. Pokey, we learn, is the instigator, never satisfied and always poking his nose into other people’s business.
But for a fleeting moment, Pokey never appears on stage. He and his wife, Miriam, who is Jewish and meets with little approval from most of her WASP in-laws, are simply the catalysts for exploring old hurts, jealousies, and favoritisms. The gimmick mostly works, because it sharpens attention on the rest of the family. However, after a while it would be nice to see Pokey, simply to dispel the suspense.
All of the characters are initially painted in broad strokes, but the cast ably brings out their underlying complexities. Barbara seems the most self-centered but turns out to be vulnerable and unsure of herself. Randy, a coach at a prep school, lives for games but is constantly fighting comparisions with Pokey. Jane is vaguely dissatisfied with her life but has no idea how to change until Miriam leads the way.
Mother, too, has her problems, not the least of which are memories of her husband. The respect she feel she owes him fights with the anger she has for his suicide.
Children fascinates as it captures the joys and desperation of family life and points out that, no matter how old we are, there is still some growing up to do.
‘Children’ is scheduled at 8 p.m. today-Saturday and Jan. 24-26. There is also a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 and $12 from 419-472-6817.
Last Modified: 02/25/06