Reviewed
by Will Stackman
In
some sense, the damage on Sept. 11, 2002 was not confined to New York City--and
the Pentagon--but to an already fraying fabric of American society. In his
earlier acclaimed show, ''Another American: Asking and Telling,"
playwright and actor Marc Wolfe responded to the hypocritical paradox behind the
American military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy concerning
homosexuality. In "The Road Home; Re-membering America," Wolfe, whose
undergraduate studies included political science as well as politics, takes
drama back to its roots in the polity--the people. The show is distilled from
perhaps 120 hours of interviews gathered across the country as the author, a
native New Yorker, drove home that October in a rental car down the West Coast
from Seattle, across the Southwest into the deep South then up the East coast
through Washington back to the City. By simply identifying himself Wolfe
elicited a range of responses from a cross-section of Americans. In this eighty
minute show he interprets their responses, without costume changes or specific
props. Through him we met a child and her hippie father in Redwood California.
The little girl, named Eartha, gives him five beans from their garden, inspired
by her favorite story.
Among
the some twenty Americans Wolfe plays, up to three in a scene, are a Native
American woman whose patriotism was stirred by 9/11/02, the inhabitant of a
Nevada ghost town deeply suspicious of the Federal Government--"the real
terrorists"--and the secretary to a small town mayor who's always dreamed
of going to New York. A garrulous German hitchhiker picked up somewhere in the
desert has his own criticism of the country, which comes down to sausages for
breakfast. There's also a Muslim dentist from New Orleans working for the
National Health Service in Mississippi, a Black traveling salesman from Chicago
plying his trade in the same area, and a Malaysian mystic asking deep questions
at an ashram, probably in the southern mountains. This sniffling guru provides
the religious fable about dismembered gods which informs the show's title. Near
the end of Wolfe's journey, we meet a hairdresser in Washington recounting his
personal problems with his boss which almost get him permanently fired, and
hear the pontifications of an architectural critic--with vertigo--living in a
tall apartment building near Ground Zero. In the end, Eartha's five beans are
still waiting to be scattered. But the people recreated in this show have begun
to sprout in the imagination of the audience.
"The
Road Home; Re-membering America" was originally commisioned by the
McCarter Theatre at Princeton and is being presented by the Huntington in
association with the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester. The show's had a
workshop performance at the Adirondack Theatre Festival and has had
developmental support from the New York Theatre Workshop. This full-scale
production is directed by David Schweizer, whose previous efforts have concentrated mostly
on contemporary opera. The set, which makes effective use of the Wimberley's
lighting and mechanics, was done by Andrew Lieberman, one of Schweizer's recent
collaborators. Lighting, including various projections was designed by Peter
West. Wolfe's
casual costume is credited to David Zinn, who's work is also seen in town onstage during
ART's current production of Rinde Eckert's "Orpheus X". It's likely
that Obie winner Wolfe may be seen next season doing this show in New York, or
some other major metropolitan venue.
There
are two American flags onstage throughout most of the performance, with no irony
intended. This is a patriotic show, in the truest sense of the word. Wolfe, a
New Yorker, has a real feeling for the diversity the rest of the country shares
with his home town. He seems committed to making these disperate voices heard.
This show returns again and again to people speaking in their own words as a
springboard for his remarkably varied performance. At one point he's talking to
the younger son of a waitress about picking lines from "Romeo &
Juliet" to memorize , playing both parts almost simultaneously. There's
also a loudmouthed older brother in the same scene which began by a monologue
from their mother cleaning up tables. This is bravura acting combined with
clear and simple text, while revealing a realistic subtext. Wolfe has distilled
the responses he gathered on his journey into a wry but encouraging look at the
country and its response to 9/11. We are resilient. Likely the show will
continue to develop and may even find a way to incorporate more Americans Wolfe
met on his trip home. Or it might be shortened and combined with a second part
based on the current situation and how the country got from then 'til now. One
problem for an author choosing to look at current affairs is that history
sweeps on. Wolfe might just find that his life's work can never be finished.