Brief Flashback to 2010

I'm sort of relieved to be taking a little break from seeing stuff.  I was starting to experience brain overload, especially because I've also been especially busy at work.  I just hit the wall.  I actually took a day off from work yesterday, which I rarely do. Anyway, when looking at past reviews to maybe post a flashback today, I was happy to land on this one.  Sorry to name drop, but dear Bob Anderson was a great friend and mentor to me at work.  Imagine being a young(ish) girl, new on the job, meeting her theater heroes, and getting the chance to chat with a celebrated writer.  He was always available to talk to me about theater history, playwriting, or life in general.  He was so elegant, charming and funny.  To brag even more, he once said if he were 50 years younger, he would've asked me out.  Of course I replied that if he were 50 years younger, I would've been too old for him, at which he laughed heartily.  I'll never forget the day he sat in my office for at least a couple of hours, telling me about the Christmases he spent in Paris and all the places he thought I should check out when I went. I stood in a coat check line with him once and we wrote a ten-minute play together (why oh why didn't my iPhone exist then?!?!  I would've transcribed it immediately and won every contest in the world with it!  I can't remember any of it, only the excitement of standing there and writing it with him).  When he passed away in 2009, I was bereft and was fortunate to be allowed to attend his memorial service.  How gratified I was to hear person after person talk about his kindness and generosity.  And when the Keen Company announced they would be doing a revival of one of his plays the next year, I obviously had to get a ticket.  What follows below is my brief review.  Thank you, Robert Anderson, for all you gave a starstuck girl who only wanted to learn from the best...

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4/22/10:  Hi, all! I got an inexpensive TDF ticket to the Keen Company’s production of Robert Anderson’s I Never Sang For My Father last night.  I was in the front row!  Yikes!  It was a little too close for me, but I enjoyed myself all the same.  I thought about moving back at intermission but decided against it.  I decided I liked being so close to the action. The theater was also awfully hot, but it didn’t ruin my evening, thankfully.  But you should maybe dress in layers...

The play is over 40 years old, but that doesn’t mean its themes of family and frustration don’t still hit home.  There was one moment that produced an audible sound from many audience members.  Maybe in these times of truly extended families, with many baby boomers taking care of their aged parents, this play is even more timely than ever.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a few creaky spots.  It does.  There are some fairly ponderous lines, given very ponderous line readings, but they are few and far between. Mainly, this is a well-cast, well-directed and straightforward revival of a classic American play.

photo credit: Suzi Sadler

Matt Servitto (who I think went to my alma mater right before I did) played the son, Gene, and he did an excellent job of playing a man desperately looking for a connection. Marsha Mason was lovely as his mother—she was a warm and funny presence, yet you could see she was completely realistic about how things are.  She played wonderfully well off Servitto.  The scene where she’s delicately asking about his sex life was charming.  I also thought Keir Dullea was terrific as the father—my heart was really breaking for these two men who just could not give each other what they thought they needed.  It’s a fine line to play a character who is unlikable, yet be likable, and I think Dullea did a good job of that.  The scene between the two men near the end, when there’s a tiny sliver of unbending that doesn’t last, was shatteringly sad.  I always respond really strongly to sadness caused by parents, since my parents have done nothing but try to make me happy my whole life, and this experience was no different.  My heart was honestly breaking.

I definitely give this production a thumbs-up.  I also liked the big band music during the pre-show and intermission.  I’m sure there are discounted tickets to be had, if you’re so inclined, which you should be.  Just don't wear a heavy sweater…