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Stage Review: 'Father's' frustrations ring true
Thursday, March 16, 2000 By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Friends we can pick and choose. Colleagues and acquaintances we can tolerate or ignore. But families are tough. They're an omnipresent part of our lives whether we like them or not. Worst of all, a part of us needs to love them no matter how bad they make us feel.
Playwright Robert Anderson gets it just right in "I Never Sang For My Father," a real downer made all the more depressing by the outstanding performances of the show's principal actors. Anderson poses -- without answering -- the deep-seated questions at the core of many family relationships: Why doesn't he or she love me? Why do I deserve to be treated like this? What are the limits of my responsibility toward someone who has broken me in the past and is likely to do it again?
Director Steve Fatla offers a stage set that's as stark as the story line, although the frequent movement of furniture under dim lighting is distracting. His minimal direction helps to keep the focus on Anderson's words, which are well spoken by the Carlow College Theatre Group cast.
Jay Keenan dominates the stage with the same intensity with which his overbearing character dominates the Garrison family. Keenan plays a curmudgeonly patriarch whose self-centeredness has alienated half of the family and destroyed the self-esteem of the others. His menacing baritone only wavers when he's screaming the confessional truths at the root of his controlling personality, yet the voice cracks to reveal a chronic insecurity that begs for a hug. Keenan shows what a jerk his character has been, but he's subtle enough to also show why his family loves him.
Successfully playing an insecure character without appearing insecure in the role is always an acting challenge. Matthew Grana handles it with the easygoing, conciliatory demeanor that marks his character's personality. Grana maintains the momentum even during first-person asides to the crowd and is completely believable when the passion of a critical family fight boils to the surface.
Betty Brunetti slips easily into the role of a quiet wife living in the shadow of a tyrant. Sue Kramer is slightly less convincing as the father's grown, estranged daughter, and Tawnya Dawnielle Riddle and Ray Schafer are good in smaller roles.
"I Never Sang for My Father" is a real downer, but it's like going to a family funeral. No matter how painful it gets, you wouldn't want to miss it.
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