by Miryam Gordon
Review: Sins of the Mother – Harlequin Productions, Olympia
By Israel Horovitz – Through February 14
Israel Horovitz, a world renown playwright, visited Olympia a few months back and found Harlequin Productions producing a script he’d never seen on stage. He saw the play and decided they should work on his newest script, Sins of the Mother, now playing in Olympia until February 14. Scot Whitney, the Artistic Director, is still reeling from his great fortune. Horovitz came out for the second week of rehearsal and then again for opening night. Whitney reports that Horovitz “loved it!”
This is an excellent production and should be seriously considered for a trip down to Olympia. Four skilled actors enact a story about a Gloucester, Massachusetts man (Dougie, played by Zachariah Robinson) who left as a teenager, partly because his mother was notorious and embarrassing. He’s come back to explore living there again. He meets three unemployed fishermen, in a place where unemployment has become a way of life. The fishing industry left many men and boats high and dry in the 1980s. Gloucester has never been the same since.
These men have connections both to his mother and other family members. They carry information about the mystery of his mother’s death. This information is unfolded along with deep, disturbing details of their lives, over the course of the play. The larger story focuses on unemployment and an exploration about morality: is there a “life after death” to worry about? If you’ve been a soldier (like Bobbie, played with deep pathos by Scott C. Brown) and killed in the line of duty, does that mean you’re doomed to hell? Does it matter how many you kill after the very first person?
Another thread throughout demonstrates domestic violence and its effects on both the women and the children who witness it. Dubbah (played by David Nail as a simple, scared, scarred man) has seen the effect of his father’s infidelity on his mother. He’s almost thankful that his mother is now so uncomprehending that she doesn’t even know who he is any more. Philly and Frankie, twins (both played by Brian Claudio Smith), have taken different positions with each parent: Frankie has stuck with his abusive father and Philly with his mother, who committed suicide rather than leave her husband.
The play has a wonderful rhythm in the lines, going back and forth from drama to comedy, with a natural sounding interaction between men, ribbing each other, asking the same questions and getting filled in with the same answers the questioner before got. It’s so rooted in reality you might be able to smell the sea air. The set by Jill Carter, a spare meeting room and then a comfortable living room are the perfect surroundings for each act. The title, it becomes clear, is an ironic statement, since really the sins of the fathers are what drive the events of the play.
For more info visit www.harlequinproductions.org.
– Miryam Gordon
