Buried Child
The Edge Theatre: 10/17 – 11/16
On April 3, 1975 the War in Viet Nam
ended.
This was the first war that the nuclear
family in America had been able to experience from a seat right in front of
their television watching Vietnamese people be napalmed on the evening news and
hearing Lyndon Johnson and then Richard Nixon talking about saving the world
from Communism.
When our boys in uniform returned they
returned to jeers of “Baby Killers!” They were not recognized as the good
patriotic boys they had seemed marching off to war. They were not given parades
as their fathers had upon returning from Europe and Japan. They were
disinherited, disenfranchised, disowned. They were, like their fallen and
dismembered brothers, our nation’s …buried children.
In 1979 Sam Shepard received
the Pulitzer Prize for “Buried Child,” his play about the obliteration of the
American Dream.
L-R: Dan Mundell, Rob Kramer, Emma Messenger, Missy Moore, Royce Roeswood and Brian Landis-Folkins seated.
Shepard’s play, set in a “realistic” farm house in Illinois, holds the detached remnants of what may have once been a real American family with real American values. There are strokes of surrealism and of symbolism imbedded in Shepard’s script, which on a first glance may seem disconnected. However… they are not.
Shepard’s play, set in a “realistic” farm house in Illinois, holds the detached remnants of what may have once been a real American family with real American values. There are strokes of surrealism and of symbolism imbedded in Shepard’s script, which on a first glance may seem disconnected. However… they are not.
Rick Bernstein does yeoman’s
service to Shepard’s American nightmare with superlative direction that elicits
engaging performances from a very good cast.
Emma Messenger is powerful as
Haley, a harridan of a matriarch who has emasculated her husband by committing
incest with one of their sons and continues to humiliate him by openly having an
affair with Father Dewis, their parish priest. Missy Moore portrays Shelly, the voice of reason in the play, who
tries to find something beyond dysfunction in this family of lost souls. Ms
Moore’s performance is nuanced in such a way as to understand why her work upon
the stage is in constant demand.
As Tilden, the son who had sexual relations with Haley, Rob Kramer is appropriately dim and mentally absent.
Tim Fishbaugh gives us a mild-mannered, if somewhat deluded man of the cloth.
Tim Fishbaugh gives us a mild-mannered, if somewhat deluded man of the cloth.
Brian Landis Folkins turns in a fine portrayal of Bradley that starts as a threat and ends up a whimper.
Dan Mundell does an admirable job of
portraying the impotent, gravel-voiced patriarch.
Royce Roeswood is Vince, the son/grandson
who, unrecognized, comes home from the war to the spiritual squalor of what
once was home. Mr. Roeswood’s work in this production makes us feel the depth
of rage with which playwright Shepard encoded his script.
This is a heavy hitter in all
aspects. It's recommended for all lovers of dark serious drama with multiple
layers and meanings.
The Edge
Theater presents
“Buried Child”
Shelly is charmed by Vince's farm
house until she meets his crazy family.
Oct. 17 - Nov. 16
Fri./Sat. @ 8 p.m.; Sun. @ 6 p.m.
No Show on Sunday, November 2 / $15
Industry Night, Mon., Nov. 3 @ 8 p.m.
Tickets: $22 - $26/ $15 on Nov. 3
The Edge Theatre, 1560 Teller Street, Suite 200, Lakewood CO 80214. Free
Parking.
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