Description

"It is a remarkable play and, a notable one...striking and strangely moving and dramatic ." - New York Post


"Compassionate and moving. The writing is extraordinarily pungent... Mr. Storey writes brilliantly for actors... A lovely play, a sad play, and a play to lose yourself in." -The New York Times

Credits

No credits have been posted.

Reviews

Black Box Theatre offers riveting production of “Home”
- William Harrold, Freelance Reviewer

Every once in a while, if you’re lucky, you will experience a stage play that transcends the physical venue, the scripted material and the actors’ spoken lines, and transports you to another place altogether. The current No Strings Theatre production of “Home” at the Black Box is such a play.

Written by English novelist and playwright David Storey, “Home” premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1970 and moved to Broadway later that same year, where it had a successful run (gaining four Tony Award nominations and a Best Play award from the New York Drama Critics Circle) with a cast featuring stage legends John Gielgud, Jessica Tandy and Ralph Richardson.

“Home” has a deceptively simple premise; over the course of the play four main characters, two men and two women, sit or stroll about the stage while conversing politely about the weather or what’s for lunch, reminiscing about the war, describing their spouses, relatives and professions, and even flirting a bit. But exactly where they are, and why they are there, is only revealed slowly as the play progresses, and that revelation gives a striking, dramatic edge to all that follows.

In the current Black Box production, the audience is greeted by an almost barren stage, set only with a patio-style table and chairs and two simple benches. Two well dressed men then stroll into the scene, settle into the chairs, and begin to chat amiably. After a time two women appear and join in the conversation. But each of these characters has an unsettling backstory, which we only learn through the course of their comments, and which bring deeper and darker meaning to their seemingly innocuous banter.

Under the deft guidance of veteran director Ceil Herman (who also serves as No Strings Theatre’s artistic director) each of the four characters come to life in distinctive and individual ways. Jack (played by Danny Wade) is sedate, composed, the proper Englishman, while his frequent scene partner Harry (played by local novelist and screenwriter Nick Heeb, making his stage debut) is a bundle of energy and nervous tics.

Kathleen (played by local theatre veteran Jamie Bronstein) is a bit prickly as she offers her matter of fact, straightforward opinions, while Marjorie (played by Black Box newcomer Sandra Williams) strikes a more dour and confrontational pose.

All four of these actors have a remarkable skill at finding unexpected meaning and depth from Storey’s occasionally sparse script, which combined with their seamless chemistry onstage and the overall rhythm and pacing of the show, creates a riveting experience from the moment the lights came up. You could literally have heard a pin drop in the audience, so complete was their immersion during the performance that followed opening night.

Finally, no description would be complete without mentioning the play’s fifth character, the happily clueless Alfred (played by Bob Alvarez, also a Black Box first timer) who occasionally lopes onstage to break the dramatic tension with his comic looniness and absurd antics.

“Home” continues through March 17 at the Black Box Theatre, 430 N. Main Street, Las Cruces, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and a special Thursday evening performance at 7:00 p.m. on March 14. Regular admission is $15; students and seniors are $12, and all Thursday evening performances are $10. For tickets call the theatre at 575-523-1223.

Seating

No seating plan has been posted.