Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Back where they belong: Roundabout’s revival of HOME and Second Stage’s BREAKING THE STORY

• By drediman
• June 7, 2024
• No Comments

This brand new theater season has seen the recent arrivals of a pair of plays that explore the notion of home and finding one’s place in life. Both feature central characters who start out completely in their element. Soon after losing their way, however, these characters similarly spend much of the respective plays — both consciously and subconsciously — yearning to return to the place from which they came. As always, read on for my thoughts.

HOME
Roundabout Theatre Company at the Todd Haimes Theatre
Through July 21

Kickstarting the 2024/2025 Broadway season is the welcome revival of Samm-Art Williams’ Home (RECOMMENDED), which opened earlier this week on the Great White Way at the Todd Haimes Theatre (previously the American Airlines Theatre) courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company. In short, the work tells the story of one Cephus Miles, a poor farmer from North Carolina, whose life veers from the path that he imagined for himself when he is imprisoned for refusing to serve in the Vietnam War. In his attempt to reboot his life, Cephus relocates to a large, teeming city in the north (the exact location is left unspecified) only to be repeatedly and systematically trodden upon. Featuring only three actors in over forty roles — kudos especially to Brittany Inge and Stori Ayers for their colorful acting and breathtaking rapid shifts — Williams’ play employs an efficient style of theatrical storytelling that keeps the action moving forward at a nice clip. The writing is also symphonic in the way it weaves thematic elements in and out of the narrative. Although some may find its old fashioned qualities a tad trite — at times the play can be a bit earnest and heavy on the poetry — overall I was affected by its honest sentiments and intrinsically upbeat tone (present even in some of Cephus’s harder episodes), and there’s a parable-like element that calls to mind Biblical tales like The Book of Job and The Prodigal Son. The staging by the very busy Kenny Leon stays largely clear of the play and performances, which last but not least includes Tory Kittles’ grounded and tender performance as Cephus. His solid work keeps this fine revival of Home both emotionally grounded and accessible.

BREAKING THE STORY
Second Stage Theater at the Tony Kiser Theater
Through June 23

Then just a block or two over, I bid my farewell to the Tony Kiser Theater — Second Stage’s longtime Off-Broadway home (the theater company has decided not to renew its lease on the idiosyncratic former bank venue) — when I attended the world premiere production of Alexis Scheer’s Breaking the Story (SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED). The new play chronicles the story of Marina, a restless war correspondent who decides, almost impulsively, to hang up her boots and retire from her dangerous line of work. However, the longer she spends away from her vocation, the more her life vacillates in and out of focus, seemingly as a simultaneous result of both prolonged exposure to wartime trauma, as well as withdrawal from the high she got as front line conflict correspondent. Unfortunately, Scheer’s play suffers from tonal inconsistencies that weigh the production down (the great comic actress Julie Halston seems to be acting in a whole different play altogether). The characters come across more like caricatures than they do fully-formed people, resulting in scenes that register more histrionically than they do authentically. The high sensory staging by director Jo Bonney seems aimed to shock-and-awe audiences to distraction, which is probably an intelligent move (thanks to some brazen sound and lighting design work, I was frequently startled out of my seat by the sonic onslaught of detonating bombs). Led by a game and committed Maggie Siff — who most audiences may recognize from her appearance in the popular television series Billions — as Marina, the cast attempt valiantly to bring allure to this ultimately limp drama, alas to limited success.