Mothers & Sons, a play by Terrence McNally, opened on Broadway in 2014 with Tyne Daly taking the part of Katherine Gerard, the mother in the title. Katherine has lost her son to AIDS some 20 years ago and seeks many answers by visiting her son’s partner, Cal, who is now married to Will. They have a son named Bud.
Jim LaMonte directs the saddening story with his signature sensitivity, and it is much needed here. The cast of Elizabeth Ruddell as Katherine, Austin Uebelhor as Cal Porter, Nicholas Heskett as Will Ogden, and Tyler Acquaviva as their son Bud Ogden-Porter sets the tone in the opening scene with an obviously nervous and put-off Cal pointing out the wonderful view from his Central Park apartment’s window to a tightly silent and seemingly unimpressed Katherine who has arrived without invitation while on her way to a holiday in Rome.
Slowly, oh so slowly, we learn who they are and what past memories they share, having last seen each other at Andre’s memorial two decades ago. Their differing senses of that occasion and of many of their remembrances of what happened to poor Andre prevail through a long exposition – lengthened even more by the arrival of Will and Bud from their time at the park. Bud is full of boyish questions and Will, in a private moment with Cal, resents Andre’s mother being there. Finally the lines are drawn about halfway through the 90-minute play and we get on to the conflicts – of which there are many.
Austin Uebelhor as Cal and Elizabeth Ruddell as Katherine in Mothers & Sons at Basile Westfield Playhouse, 220 N. Union St., Westfield. (Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com)
Katherine is a selfish mess – having endured a ragged small-town childhood before catching herself a man who would take her away so that she could at last find happiness. Except his plan for them, heading to Dallas, backfires for her, as does their relationship. Having Andre was supposed to fix all that – but he escapes off to New York City as soon as he is free to, and somehow becomes gay. She blames the world, especially Cal since he has risen out of Andre’s ashes to have a prosperous new life with his husband Will.
More than anything, Mothers & Sons is an interesting character study to me, as well as an obvious lament for the generation of AIDS victims. Katherine represents not only the flock of people who couldn’t understand this emerging lifestyle of the gay community, but she also reflects the many unenlightened parents who never accepted their child’s sexuality being homosexual. She is past her suicidal tendencies, one believes, but still feels hatred for a world that could do this to her only son and, through that means, be ruinous to her own life and happiness.
Cal, too, suffers the loss of Andre, but he is far more hopeful and able to move forward, much to Katherine’s chagrin. Will seems too young to be fully impacted by the crisis and feels lucky to have found himself so solid a man as Cal, although he expresses some jealousy and annoyance with the rehashing of Andre. Bud is the future, and with his endless questions he gains the knowledge to grow with an understanding and a preparedness.
The cast navigates these avenues well-enough, each of them having time to shine – with Heskett’s performance being the overall brightest – but they seemed to lack polish for their Thursday night get-back-to-it performance. To me, the play itself seems too lengthy by a quarter or so, and I know of no remedy for that aside from liberal unauthorized cuts.
Bottom line: While McNally’s play probably isn’t as “brave” as it was in 2014, it still asks the right questions for us to consider vis-à-vis the plight of gays in America. But a tad less bravery could signal a measure of success – maybe an indication that slowly, oh so slowly, things are moving toward the proper direction. Keep working . . .
Read more great play reviews from A Seat on the Aisle at asota.wordpress.com.