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Marlin Thomas’s REPARATIONS Set for Limited New York Run After International Win
Acclaimed Playwright Confronts the “Impossible Moral Debt” of American History at Teatro LATEA
Anya Kai, reporting
New York native and celebrated playwright Marlin Thomas is set to present a limited run of his latest, award-winning work, REPARATIONS, at Teatro LATEA (107 Suffolk St., New York, NY 10002). The production, which recently earned the top honor at the International Theater Script Competition 2024, promises an unflinching and sophisticated exploration of the debt owed for American chattel slavery and its lingering consequences.
A Confrontation at the Door
REPARATIONS centers on William McCrory, a wealthy white man whose comfortable life is shattered by an unexpected visitor—a Black man who shares both his name and his birthday. This mysterious stranger arrives carrying documents that connect the two men through a painful history rooted in slavery.
As the stranger’s intentions unfold, the play dramatically excavates painful histories, both public and private. It forces the protagonist—and the audience—to grapple with an impossible moral debt. The work has been lauded by the competition jury for its commitment to thoughtful discourse on a polarizing subject, balancing challenging political ideas with compelling, character-driven drama.
The production asks, but deliberately leaves unanswered, a host of urgent and contentious questions that resonate deeply in contemporary society, including:
- What does the present owe the past?
- Can historical injuries ever truly be repaired?
- What individual responsibility exists for distant sins?
- Should individuals be held accountable for the actions of their social and racial group?
Playwright’s Journey: From Skepticism to Drama
Marlin Thomas, an academic and writer whose background spans the humanities and the sciences (including literature, philosophy, and computer science), wrote REPARATIONS to satisfy his own curiosity about the issue.
“I was viscerally opposed to reparations,” Thomas explains, “so I was curious to find out how someone could be in favor of them.”
His research led him to gradually shift his perspective, realizing that the arguments presented on both sides of the issue had “as many flaws as merits.” Thomas sought to dramatize this intellectual and emotional movement, expressing his belief that “reasonable people can disagree about an issue as emotional and personal as that of reparations.”
When asked about his message, Thomas states, “History is on nobody’s side. No argument stands without engaging with its counter argument.” The timing of the play’s production, he notes, is not a direct response to current government action, but rather a function of his “slow writing pace and the length of time it took to gain recognition.”
The most significant obstacle in producing the show, according to Thomas, was finding a director who could “acknowledge the complexity of the characters” and approach the script with an open mind. He found this collaborator in DeMone Seraphin, who “broadly appreciates the humanity reflected in the characters.”
The Man Behind the Play
Born in the Bronx and raised in the Queensbridge Houses, Thomas was educated at Queens College (CUNY), Johns Hopkins University, and New York University. His academic work is extensive, with his piece on Alan Turing: The Enigma being named Computing Reviews’ best review of 2015.
As a creative writer, Thomas is also known for his full-length play FreudMahler (published in English and Italian) and The Middleman, a finalist for Best Play in the 2020 New York Theater Festival.
Regarding his unique perspective, Thomas introduces himself as: “An academic who has taught in departments of English and computer science. A writer who is political but non-partisan. An atheist trying to have enough faith to become an agnostic.”
Looking Ahead: The Humanity of Queensbridge
Following the run of REPARATIONS, Thomas will turn his focus to a deeply personal project: a new full-length play titled “Queensbridge.”
Queensbridge Houses, the country’s largest public-housing project, is often celebrated as the birthplace of rap but is also long associated with poverty and violence. Thomas intends to give the community a nuanced treatment, one that recognizes the “humanity and quiet heroism” of its residents. The play will dramatize the experiences of a decades-long resident who recounts his life, detailing the trauma endured by those he lived with, his own complicity in it, and his path toward partial redemption.
Performance Schedule
REPARATIONS will have a limited run at Teatro LATEA on the following dates:
- Thursday, November 20 at 9:00 PM
- Saturday, November 22 at 12:00 PM
- Sunday, November 23 at 8:30 PM
TICKETS for the limited engagement are available now.
History is NOW: Jim Catapano views ZAGŁADA
Richard Vetere Brings t His Gripping Zaglada and the Great Len Cariou to the ATA Stage
“How do you judge human behavior when human life is judged to be worthless?”
Zaglada is a polish word meaning “annihilation, or extermination.” The astonishingplay that takes this nameexplores the moral dilemma faced by human beings in the horrific, life-and-death situation that this describes. What would you do to save yourself, or the person you love most? And how far would you go to render justice, even decades later? Should a person in the last days of their life face punishment for the crimes of a near century ago—crimes that to some eyes, they were forced to commit?
The Marvelous Len Cariou, a 65-year veteran of the stage and a Tony winner renowned for his performance as Sweeney Todd, isJerzy Kozlowski. He is a 93-year-old Polish Queens resident who has been arrested for shooting at Danielle Hooper (Jes Washington), a woman of color and a journalist. Danielle has discovered that Kozlowski was a kapo in a Buchenwald concentration camp in World War II, a prisoner who became an enforcer in the camp in exchange for his own life…and more. The arresting officer Frank Napoli (Salvatore Inzerillo) finds himself in an unexpected conflict with Sonia Sakalow (Maja Wampuszyc), a Homeland Security Officer who is hellbent on finally bringing Kozlowski to justice.
Powerfully directed by Wampuszyc, Zaglada is a fiction based on a very real reality—a history that is in danger of being forgotten, which creates the very real possibility that it will be repeated.
Napoli takes pity on the dying Kozlowski, giving him his pills and making sure he’s comfortable. He appears to be on the side of “moving on” from history.
“We spend most of our time worrying about things, dealing with things that happened when we weren’t even here,” he says to Hooper.
“Like Kozlowski?” she asks.
“Like Christopher Columbus, like Confederate statues, like reparations for slaves,” he replies, adding that his family wasn’t even in the country when the events transpired.
“That is the usual argument,” she notes. “But it is history, isn’t it?”
“Yours, maybe,” he dismisses, “not mine.”
Hooper, who is writing a book getting a PHD in International Human Rights, sees a parallel between the atrocities of the War and the persecution of African Americans, and seeks to make the world see it as well.
“The economy of this country was built on slavery,” reminds Hooper. “Now whether they were here or not, your people certainly benefited by the time they got here. Slavery was also a crime against humanity if you ask me, and there’s no statutory limit on that.”
Wampuszyc also sees no statute of limitations on Kozlowski’s actions in the latter days of WWII. She looks upon the old man with contempt and hatred that feels unusually personal, and is determined to see him be extradited and tried. Napoli is not on board; he sees Kozlowski as having been coerced into his actions.
“An elderly man, forced to work for the SS in a war that nobody thinks about anymore, needs to be punished?” Napoli protests.
“I am well aware that he did not volunteer to be a kapo at Buchenwald,” Wampuszyc retorts, dismissing that aspect as irrelevant. “…He is guilty, those are the facts.”
“I’m not sure that I would survive in a camp,” acknowledged Napoli. “But I know one thing…I would do all I could to survive.”
“You don’t know what you would do, nobody does,” says Wampuszyc. “Not until you are there, and it is real.”
The legendary Cariou is a wonder to behold; the experiences of a near-century are all in his eyes. You can literally see him putting himself back in 1945 as he gazes into the middle distance in agony. His fellow actors are also remarkable in their intensity, each suffering from their own form of PTSD that manifests in their passionate resolve and in the haunted, pained expressions on their weary faces. As circumstances unfold there are revelations that paint a vivid picture of why these particular people have found themselves battling in a small police station in 2018; every moment is riveting as more and more comes to the surface to create deeper shades of gray.
Zaglada is a masterpiece that is a must-see from both a creative standpoint and due to its undeniable relevancy in a time when humanity is at a moral crossroads and is already beginning to repeat the atrocities of the past.
Zaglada is performed at the American Theater of Actors through November 2.
Jim Catapano at Blood Orange: A Masterful Study of Hurt, Love, and Loss
Et Atalia Theater Presents Abigail Duclos’ Stunning Experimental New Play
How do adolescents survive when all the grown-ups have disappeared? Blood Orange is like a domestic Lord of The Flies, but the abandonment and isolation on display cuts much deeper. The teenagers here aren’t just separated from their parental figures; they have been utterly failed by them.
Maria Müller is astonishing as Faye, a North Carolina high schooler whose father died violently a few weeks before the story begins. Faye’s stepmother has retreated to her bedroom, devastated, and extremely physically and emotionally unwell. The suddenly alone Faye brings over her school friend Eden for company; the lonely outcast Eden is happy for the attention but disturbed by Faye’s manic dark humor, a symptom of the trauma she’s been through. Faye keeps begging the appalled Eden to physically assault her (perhaps deep down to “see if she can still feel,” as Nine Inch Nails suggested).
Eden’s unease fades as her attraction strengthens. The two begin to connect on a deeper level, but the situation is disturbed by the arrival of Faye’s friend Georgia, who is the polar opposite of Eden; loud, assertive and hyper-sexual, she strides in and dominates proceedings, flirting with Faye and gazing with disdain upon Eden.
Now without a father and essentially without a mother, Faye feels abandoned by God as well. She devises her own deity out of a dead animal she found on the road and placed in a paper bag in a refrigerator, below her stash of frozen dinners. The creature is so mangled they can’t even tell what kind of animal it was (they decide on probably bunny), but Faye and later Eden are entranced by its appearance and even its stench of decay. They suddenly find a tangerine in the bag with the animal and declare it to be a miracle. The grounded Georgia is of course disgusted and condemns the horrific turn of events; she is also clearly threatened by Faye and Eden’s growing bond, which is now being solidified by Eden’s joining Faye’s new religion. Georgia is a Regina George in “Mean Girls”-type but is realized in three dimensions by Giorgia Valenti. The sassy, cynical Georgia can’t hide her insecurity and jealousy; it’s clear that her insults towards Eden are coming from that place. (The cast rotates throughout the run; Müller alternates as Georgia when Luisa Galatti appears as Faye.)
Ana Moioli charms as the awkward, innocent, appropriately named Eden, searching for connection and for an escape from her abusive father. She shows Faye the beloved stuffed animal her father tried to destroy, which foreshadows a climactic moment with Georgia and the “deity” later in the play. Faye prays to her roadkill god to bring her father back; Eden prays for it to make her own father go away. The two become one over their despair, dancing (literally) around their attraction to each other as they chant and pray to their new savior. It is a striking sequence, enthralling and horrifying at the same time, and speaks to the heart of the matter: these are young women who have been abandoned, abused, and cast adrift, and desperately looking for hope, love, and something to believe in.
One of the play’s most surprising moments is the sudden appearance of Faye’s stepmother Mariah in the flesh. If you have not consulted the playbill beforehand it would be understandable to expect her to remain an unseen character, represented only by the sound of footsteps making floorboards creak. But Doreen Oliver arrives to pull at our heartstrings, the loving mother weakened by illness and grief, desperately trying to regain her strength and faculties to make a simple tomato soup dinner for her daughter. It is a glimmer of hope for Faye, but a brief one; Mariah heartbreakingly collapses back into her desperate state, suddenly unable to even recognize Faye. The tomato soup is spilled onto the floor, a puddle of dark red, again foreshadowing the darkness to come. When Georgia returns to put the situation to an end, events spiral to a horrific conclusion that is deeply unsettling—but also excellently staged and acted.
The production is brought to life with powerful direction by Vernice Miller, and meticulously choreographed by associate director Amelia Rose Estrada, with an exceptional scenic design by Ningning Yang. The sound design by Laura Perreira and lighting by Hayley Garcia Parnell contribute so much that they can almost be considered other characters in the play. The compelling group of actors, whose chemistry is electric, stay completely in character even through the many scene changes, keeping the audience immersed in the world of the play. Duclos and the actors have combined to bring us real people that we get to deeply feel for as we hang on their every word and action.
Blood Orange is an absolute triumph for Duclos and the cast, a masterful work that will stay with you long after the lights in Faye’s apartment go out.
The production of Blood Orange is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute. It runs through Sept. 17, 2025.
ATA kicks off the 50th Season with the revival of their acclaimed production of Shakespeare’sKING LEAR. September 10 – 21 with a special 50th Season Kick-off Event, Sunday, September 14 after the performance. Refreshments will be served.
King Lear begins as the Earl of Gloucester introduces his illegitimate son, Edmund, to the Earl of Kent. Lear, King of Britain, enters with his court. Now that he is an old man, Lear has decided to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. The division will depend on the quality of each princess’ declarations of love for her father before the court. Goneril, Duchess of Albany, and Regan, Duchess of Cornwall, both speak enthusiastically and earn their father’s praise. But Cordelia, the youngest, says nothing because she cannot voice her deep love for Lear. Misunderstanding his daughter, Lear disowns and banishes her from the kingdom. He also banishes the Earl of Kent, who had taken Cordelia’s side against the King.
Despairing for his daughters, and deeply regretting rejecting Cordelia, Lear goes mad at the height of a great storm. He and the Fool run wild on the heath until Gloucester takes them into a hut for shelter. He then seeks the aid of Kent to get them away to the coast, where Cordelia has landed with a French army to fight for her father against her sisters and their husbands.
In this family drama, greed is a driving force and remorse comes too late.
Alan Hasnas returns to the title role Featured in the cast is Josh Bartosch, Amber Brookes, Tom Ciorciari, Sam Cruz, Jane Culley*, Oliver Figueroa, Adonis Guzman, Sam Hardy, Karolina Larion, Emery Lawrence, Paul Maurizio, Jake Minter, Dustin Pazar, Alex Silverman, and Reese Villiger.*Ms. Culley appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association
The American Theatre of Actors was founded in 1976 by James Jennings, who continues as its President and Artistic Director. It is a repertory theatre company consisting of 50 actors, 15 playwrights and 8 directors. Its purpose is to promote the development of new playwrights, directors and actors and provide them a creative atmosphere in which to work without the pressures of commercial theatre.The plays deal with the social and ethical problems of contemporary society. Over 1,000 new works have been presented and more than 11,000 actors have worked at A.T.A., including Dennis Quaid, Bruce Willis, Danny Aiello, Dan Lauria, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin O’Connor, William Fichtner, Edie Falco and Kathryn Hahn.
CONTACT: info@jaymichaelsarts.com or 646-338-5472
Spotlight on Authors Domnica Radulescu and Carol Campbell
Domnica Radulescu and Carol Campbell are the creative duo behind the play Sappho’s Garden. Radulescu is a highly accomplished Romanian-American novelist, playwright, and educator, with numerous awards and accolades to her name, including three acclaimed novels and two volumes of original plays. She is also a two-time Fulbright scholar and the founding Director of the National Symposium of Theater in Academe.
Their partnership began over a decade ago when Campbell directed one of Radulescu’s plays. The collaboration deepened through a shared passion for feminist theater, ancient goddess culture, and eco-feminism. Their “riveting marriage of minds” has produced several theatrical works, with Sappho’s Garden being their “most luminous and accomplished.”
The Book: Sappho’s Garden
The play Sappho’s Garden was born during the COVID-19 pandemic after the authors received a collaborative art grant. The project was inspired by their rediscovery of the verses of the ancient poet Sappho and a shared obsession with ancient goddesses. The work tackles the intersection of violence against women and the destruction of Mother Earth.
The central message of the play is to “Cultivate your garden” in both a literal and a metaphorical sense. This means taking care of the Earth and believing in the power of art, poetry, and imagination to offer “intimations of a better world.” The authors hope the play will inspire audiences to strive for a more sustainable, peaceful, and just world.
Looking ahead, the authors plan to continue developing the play, with a staged reading scheduled in Virginia and the ultimate goal of a full production.
Carol Lee Campbell and Domnica Radulescu
A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording
Thursday, October 16 · 7:30 – 8:30pm EDT
The Drama Book Shop266 West 39th Street New York, NY 10018Get directions
The Drama Book Shop presents, in association with Jay Michaels Global Communications, “Sappho’s Garden” A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording.
An expansive, poetic play about the legendary poet, Sappho. A startling evocation of a feminist ethos.
This Eventbrite ticket is your reservation for the event. Please note that the purchase of “ Sappho’s Garden” ($10.00) is required for entry. Upon arrival, our team will direct you to the register to obtain your copy and complete your admission. The store will begin welcoming guests at 7:15 pm.
CAST ANNOUNCED for “the other Shakespeare in the Park:” Shakespeare Sports’ Comedy of Errors directed by Michael Hagins
CAST ANNOUNCED for “the other Shakespeare in the Park”
Shakespeare Sports Theatre Company opens its SHAKESPEARE SUMMER TOUR with a new production of the Comedy of Errors directed by Michael Hagins; Adam Sherwin, stage manager, coming to a park or performance space near you!
SCHEDULES THUS FAR: Riverside Church July 17 @ 7 pm RESERVE A SEAT
St. Francis Cabrini Shrine July 19 and 20 @ 4 pm RESERVE A SEAT
Summit Rock in Central Park July 26 and August 2 — BOTH @ 2 PM RESERVE A SEAT
Pat’s Lawn in Inwood Hill Park July 27 @ 2 pm RESERVE A SEAT
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
Shakespeare’s Hilariously Haywire “Comedy of Errors,” a frolicsome farce so fantastically foolish, it’s practically a recipe for roaring laughter! “The Comedy of Errors,” a play where mistaken identities run riot features the following cast: Vic Gitre, Charlie Keegan James, Emily Glaser, Jennifer Kim, Melissa Meli, Erica Gerold, Katie Freimann, Lila Ashley Meyers, Kasey Cznowski, Hayley Berketa, and Molly Feisher
Imagine, if you will, a bustling ancient Ephesus, where not one, but TWO sets of identical twins are about to stumble headlong into a hilarious hullabaloo! We’re talking Antipholus of Syracuse and his ever-so-loyal (and equally confused) servant, Dromio of Syracuse, who unwittingly wander into the very city inhabited by their spitting images, Antipholus of Ephesus and his own bewildered Dromio!
This uproarious rendition, brought to life by the visionary direction of Michael Hagins who is a celebrated Shakespearean artist in NYC with productions of Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night or What You Will, Titus Andronicus, King Lear, Othello, Julius Caesar, Pericles, King John, King Henry IV, Part 1, King Henry IV, Part 2, King Henry V, King Henry VI, Part 1, King Henry VI, Part 3, King Richard III, The Winter’s Tale, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice,Timon of Athens, All’s Well That Ends Well, Troilus and Cressida, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Henry VIII, Two Noble Kinsman, Cardenio\Double Falsehood, Edward III, Merry Wives of Windsor, Cymbeline, Richard II, Antony & Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Much Ado About Nothing, King Henry VI, part 2 and part 3, and Measure for Measure.
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE
Jim Catapano views the ATA’s New Life for Prince Hal
Shakespeare’s Henry V is revived with a Sparkling New Production at the American Theatre of Actors
“We Happy Few, We Band of Brothers,” Henry V famously proclaims—and Sam Hardy, the actor who currently brings him to life, could well be addressing his castmates and crew of this accomplished production, now playing at the ATA as presented by Jonathan G. Power.
Henry V is the final piece in a tetralogy by Shakespeare that was basically the 16th century stage version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, and Henry IV, Part 2. Henry V would have been a familiar character to theatre fanatics of the Renaissance, having appeared in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 in youthful form as the wayward, tavern-loving Prince Hal.
This “sequel” depicts Hal/Henry (also known as “Harry”) rising to the throne with a new maturity. At the English court Henry is convinced after a discussion about land laws with the Archbishop of Canterbury (David Allard) that he has a claim to the Throne of France. Thus, he prepares to do battle with the French near Agincourt. His regiment is comparatively small, but the king is armed with a of heart and spirit that he is determined to share with his soldiers.
Shakespeare veteran Hardy is perfect in the title role; his commanding voice, powerful stage presence and impressive physicality adding an extra electricity to the Bard’s 1599(ish) play. He brings great poignancy to a sequence where Henry disguises himself to walk among his soldiers, in order to get to know them and bring them hope and encouragement.
One of the most popular of Shakespeare’s historicals, Henry V is engaging and witty throughout, with many humorous interludes and an incredibly quotable text. The actors handle the complex languages, lengthy soliloquies, and Bill’s famous wordplay with astonishing skill and a clear love for the source material; they also excel at the tricky, operatic fight sequences, which are expertly choreographed for this production. The English soldiers are in tan T-Shirts, the French in blue; and the overall dress is contemporary. Even with the large cast many of the actors play multiple roles, switching demeanors and characterizations with deftness.
Dustin Pazar is engaging as The Chorus (“Narrator”) as well as The Duke of Exeter, Noy Marom is Princess Catherine of France; in one of the play’s most amusing scenes she asks her maid Alice (Annie Unger) for a lesson in how to say a selection of English words, with Alice responding with rather suspect pronunciation. Marom also plays the conspiratorial Sir Thomas Grey, and Unger doubles as “the Boy,” page to comedic trio Pistol (Joe Patrick Marshall), Nym (Kieran Wylie), and Bardolph (Paul Maurizio). (These four characters also appear in multiple Shakespeare works.) The prolific Jane Culley (over 50 off and off-Broadway credits) is the Queen of France and also Pistol’s wife, Mistress Quickly. Producer Power appears as Henry’s counterpart on the chessboard, the King of France. Adam Lyons is very amusing as the French Herald, who periodically appears on the balcony to taunt the English warriors.
Dukes and Earls of course abound. Christian Miranda appears as both the Duke of Orleans and the Earl of Salisbury; Reese Villiger is the loyal Earl of Westmoreland;
For audiences unfamiliar, I’d equate the relationships among the characters to the conflicts, and camaraderie in another more recent hero’s journey, The Lord of The Rings franchise (subtracting magic rings and dragons, but adding the tennis balls that the Dauphin of France sends to his rival Henry as a gag gift). Cruz is an entertaining presence as the aggressive, always screaming Dauphin.
Directed with panache by ATA founder and artistic director James Jennings, Henry V makes great use of the multi-leveled, atmospheric John Cullum Theatre. Moving video backdrops portraying castles, battlefields and graveyards add a nice sense of place and time. As usual for this highly regarded entry into Shakespeare’s canon, this edition Henry V earns it’s 3-hour runtime, captivating throughout on its way to a rousing denouement.
Henry V runs at the ATA through April 19, 2025.
REVIEW by JIM CATAPANO: A Fractured Family Searches for Connection
A House Divided Visits a Family in the Aftermath of the Events of 2016 and 2020
Thanksgiving Day, 2021. COVID lingers. The Trump Era is (temporarily) interrupted. The working-class Gebauer family of south Philadelphia reunites for their first in-person gathering in years, after their personal and political differences had driven them apart. Thus begins A House Divided: A Blue Collar Comedy on National Themes, a timely, powerful and very entertaining work by Joshua Crone.
Jim (Mark Thomas McKenna) is a long-haul trucker and Trump supporter, separated from his liberal wife, schoolteacher Rosalie (Alyssa Simon), who is hosting for the holiday. “Granny” Alice (Jenny Martel) is initially not in attendance, and is only appearing via FaceTime, as Jim has refused to vaccinate and she doesn’t want to risk exposure. Adam McDowell is the Gebauer’s son Jimmy, a pastor, who has brought his devout girlfriend Grace (Kinah Britton), a woman of color, to the gathering. The couple has two related major life announcements to tell the family, but Jimmy is aware that they may not go over well, particularly with the “old-fashioned” (to put it mildly) Alice. Sammy (Hayley Pace) is the Gebauer’s other child, arriving with a Covid mask on—and a major life announcement of his own, which is unlikely to be welcomed by either Alice or Jim. All is revealed at the unseen dinner, and the family returns to the living room to deal with the aftermath, the chasm between them even wider than before.
Where the characters agree and disagree is handled very interestingly and realistically. Jimmy is the only character who tries to consistently put acceptance and understanding above all else, but struggles to maintain the role of peacekeeper. Jim is somewhat sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement, agreeing that police brutality and prejudice is a real thing, but he rolls his eyes at Rosalie’s having put a BLM flag in the window—suspecting it’s only there because Grace was coming. Rosalie later admits he’s right, but Grace is not impressed, and actually distances herself from the movement. Sammy and Alice agree on masks, but decidedly differ on Sammy’s revelation.
Hayley Pace gives a nuanced, sensitive performance as Sammy, who reveals to the family that he will seek gender-affirming surgery—despite being assigned female at birth, he’s a boy and always has been. The reactions of the other characters vary dramatically; Jim is aghast, verbally dismissive, and refuses to use Sammy’s pronouns (as foreshadowed earlier in the play when he can’t even remember to use his wife’s own preferred version of her name). The old-school religious Grace also condemns the notion, driving a wedge between her and Jimmy, who fully supports his sibling. Progressive Rosalie is also completely on Sammy’s side, but also very awkward and occasionally unhelpful—and Sammy calls her on that. The frustrated Rosalie later admits that as an ally she’s trying to do the right thing, but feels she keeps doing it the wrong way. Meanwhile the spark is still there between her and Jim, and they go from flirting to fighting in the blink of an eye—again, a very realistic take on the complexities of human relationships.
Crone’s writing crucially does not take sides—events play out and the audience is allowed to take it all in without being manipulated into any character’s corner. The effect is a blend of All in The Family and the notorious “Seven Fishes” episode of The Bear. Which is to say there is a lot of humor mixed in with the dysfunctional strife, making the story more true-to-life than it would have been if it were nothing but melodramatic angst and shouting. Early on there is a comedic sequence involving the charred turkey, which brings in a fireman (Will Maizel) after a funny phone mix-up with the operator (Tiffany Ray). There’s even two invisible (but adorable) energetic cats, Smokey and Bandit, unseen but very much heard.
The characters escape from the conflict by reminiscing about the good times back in the day, trying to recapture the bond among them. They take turns noodling meditatively at the electric piano at the front of the stage. Jim tunes out the fighting literally, by singing loudly as he works on fixing the fireplace, trying to reclaim his former role in the family. These interludes culminate in an unexpected, hilarious Broadway-style song (by Michael and Joshua Crone) from the entire cast that provides a catharsis, and gently pokes fun at the inherent weirdness of the musical trope of everyone knowing the same song and suddenly bursting into it.
The actors gel remarkably, giving the impression of relationships with a long, complex history. At the end of the play we see them all as human beings, and despite their very serious differences the connections and love are still there among them. A heartwarming sequence involving popcorn and family-favorite movie Convoy drives this home (and “warm fuzzies” abound). A House Divided successfully shows us the angst, heartache, and growing pains of the 2020s, but reminds us that warmth and sweetness can still follow.
A House Divided is directed by Thoeger Hansen and is a production of Night Cook Studio. It runs at The NuBox at John DeSotelle studio through March 30, 2025.
Arts Independent 