The Homecoming
Cort Theatre
138 W 48th Street
Sunday 1/13/08 – 3:00PM
The Homecoming is a famous dark play written by legend Harold Pinter. I had no prior exposure to him before hearing about this show coming to broadway. When it was announced I ebayed a copy of the play and read it on the plane to Vegas. It is a short work and I had it read in less than an hour. I started out enjoying it but then it took too many sub contextual turns and never really wrapped itself off. I am all for twisted and dark pieces, but I need an underlying and consistent plot to really dive in. Maybe it is my lack of knowledge or readings of great works, but I am trying. Here is my understanding of the plot. The story takes place in London England circa 1960-1970. The main characters Max (father – Ian McShane famous for Deadwood series on HBO), Sam (Max’s brother – Michael McKean famous for many TV shows, Saturday Night Live, and Spinal Tap movies), Lenny (Max’s middle son – Raul Esparza), Teddy (Max’s Eldest Son – James Frain), Joey (Max’s youngest son - Gareth Saxe), and Ruth (Teddy’s wife – Eve Best). Eldest son Teddy and his wife Ruth come back to England for a surprise family visit. The family does not know he is married, so this has caused a shock. Max plays almost an impotent type man trying to still play the macho patriarch of the family. Lenny’s occupation is not exactly clear until the end of the play, and Joey is a budding boxer. Most of the story I guess revolves the power struggle and role sexuality plays in a circle of people - the need for dominance. The most open ended question is whether Ruth is being controlled, or actually the manipulator. But are these strong men really that vulnerable to be so easily controlled by feminine sexual appeal? There are many “WTF” moments whether via plot or sheet shock at the staging, which isn’t a bad thing, but the show just ends so abruptly. I’m sure there are many papers, reviews, critiques on the inner workings of the show, and delves into these questions, but I still don’t get it. But maybe that is how it is supposed to be; leaving it undefined and open for interpretation.
Performances were excellent from the whole cast. Actually a little scary how close they were to how I imagined them to be when reading the play originally. I don’t know if it was my previous interest in Raul’s theater credits, but it was so hard to keep his character in focus. I’m not faulting him for this, but his London accent was scarily similar to the one used in Taboo, and I have been on a Taboo kick lately. Any moment I was waiting for him to come out dressed in drag. The character was a bit too lovable in my opinion, strange as it may seem. I always thought you would want to be sickened in a way by Lenny in a way, but Raul came off sort of friendly. Eve Best took a bit to warm up too, but she came up punching at the end of Act 2.
After the show, we were able to take pictures and briefly speak to James, Ian, Michael, and Raul. They were very nice and patient. Michael actually asked if I had read the play and I was all excited to actually engage in conversation about it, when someone he knew popped out of no where and stole his attention, boo! However, he remember he promised us pictures and after his conversation ended came right over to us. That was very kind.
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