Mechelle Moe, Mike Nussbaum, Janet Ulrich Brooks and Juliet Hart/Photo: Lara Goetsch
RECOMMENDED
In his funny, wise family drama set in Rhinebeck, New York, playwright Richard Nelson blends Dreiser’s naturalism with Chekhov’s impressionistic allusiveness to show us that politics and open family secrets resist honest discussion as firmly as they did in the 1890s, when Chekhov sketched the charm, the disillusionment, the irrelevance of the Russian upper classes. Listening to the intelligent, frustrated Apple family discuss endlessly and hopelessly the American political stalemate of the last seven years, one can’t help wondering, are we doomed to repeat the fate of the Russian rural gentry?
In place of real conversation, Nelson seems to say, in place of informed judgments tempered by the study of history and by ideals of civilized discourse, instead of wisdom founded on reading and reflection (the only thing that sparks “innovation”), we liberals offer ideas just as conventional, poses just as self-indulgent and self-righteous, formulas just as dead, as the prattle of the super-patriots on the other end of the political spectrum.
Nelson gives his audience a tough mouthful to swallow. We’ve all abused Sarah Palin, whose words inspired the title of Nelson’s drama. Yes, Palin cultivates a truculent, insolent ignorance that begs opponents to despise her, but that’s no excuse. Nelson deftly turned my ears red with embarrassment.
Could Nelson have found a better cast than the actors of TimeLine Theatre Company? Louis Contey, the director, shaped the superbly seamless ensemble. Mike Nussbaum is perfection as Uncle Benjy, the demented Apple family patriarch-uncle. Janet Ulrich Brooks plays with equal perfection Barbara Apple, Uncle Benjy’s high-strung caretaker-niece and a high school English teacher.
Juliet Hart as Marian Apple Platt charmed me with her portrait of a passionate, Democratic Party partisan. Mechelle Moe plays Jane Apple Halls, the sister of Barbara and Marian, a writer pursuing a thesis on “what ordinary things reveal about our hidden convictions.” PJ Powers as Tim Andrews, Jane’s boyfriend, the outsider who gets drawn into family turbulence, is very amusing. The skeptical, disillusioned Apple brother is Richard, played in a fine understated way by David Parkes. Richard serves as author Nelson’s political-moral voice.
If you enjoy rethinking your political manners and like to laugh while doing so, go to this play. (Bill Sweetland)
TimeLine Theatre Company, 615 West Wellington. (773)281-8463, timelinetheatre.com. $39-$52. Through April 18 (alternating with “Sorry”).
Related Stories
No Small Thing: A Review of The Kid Thing at Nothing Without A Company RECOMMENDED Sarah Gubbins' “The Kid Thing” is about the kid thing and more: what does it take to be happy? And what does it mean to bring a child into a less-than-perfect world? Nothing is ever good enough for the workaholic Darcy (a snaky, snobby Shalyn Welch) except maybe another glass of whiskey. And when the unstoppable force that is…- A Woman's World: A Review of The Audience at TimeLine Theatre Company “The Audience” is a play centered around a series of weekly conversations between Queen Elizabeth II (Janet Ulrich Brooks) and her twelve prime ministers at Buckingham Palace
- How Far to Hope: A Review of Oslo at TimeLine Theatre Company and Broadway In Chicago J.T. Rogers’ Tony-Award winning play about the back-channel negotiations of the Oslo Accords in 1993 isn’t naive about its subject but nevertheless contains a glimmer of hope.
- Broken Keys: A Review of Cardboard Piano at TimeLine Theatre Company What is broken and what can be fixed are essential and uneasy questions in this local premiere from playwright Hansol Jung.
- It Takes Time To Be A Man: A Review of Boy at TimeLine Theatre Company TimeLine Theatre Company's poignant drama addresses the limitations and repercussions of our culture's limited perception of gender.
- Unpacking a Diva : A Review of Master Class at TimeLine Theatre Company TimeLine Theatre Company's revival of Terrence McNally's 1995 play demonstrates the resilience of Maria Callas' story and pedagogy.
