Theater review: 'The Home Place' plods, despite potential

Photo By Michal Daniel

PHOTO � Michal Daniel, 2007: Nathaniel Fuller (Jacob Marley) and Raye Birk (Ebenezer Scrooge) in the Guthrie Theater's production of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, adapted by Barbara Field, directed by Gary Gisselman, set design by Neil Patel, original costumes by Jess Goldstein, additional costumes by David Kay Mickelsen, lighting design by Marcus Dilliard. November 20 - December 30, 2007.

THEATER REVIEW: The Guthrie gives Brian Friel's play its U.S. premiere, and the results are not totally satisfying.

By Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

Last update: November 27, 2007 - 2:13 PM

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THE HOME PLACE

What: By Brian Friel. Directed by Joe Dowling.

When: 1 p.m. today, Wednesday, Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Ends Nov. 25.

Where: McGuire Proscenium at the Guthrie, 818 S. 2nd St., Mpls.

Tickets: $29-$69, 612-377-2224, 877-44-STAGE, or www.guthrie theater.org

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The venerable Arthur Miller was largely spent in 2002 when his "Resurrection Blues" had its premiere at the Guthrie Theater. Nonetheless, we would never argue that Director Joe Dowling erred in staging that master's penultimate work.

Dowling is again right to bring U.S. audiences their first look at a play by a man rightly honored in dramatic circles: his friend Brian Friel. "The Home Place" focuses on the splintering social compacts of fin de siecle Ireland. More confident in subject matter, Friel's piece shares a characteristic of Miller's "Blues:" It feels tired and unsure of its message. Dowling's production, which opened Friday on the McGuire Proscenium Stage, struggles to make something of it.

Friel set his play in 1878 on the cusp of the Irish Land Movement. Christopher Gore, an English landlord, fears that his family's centuries-long sojourn on the Emerald Isle is threatened by peasant rebellion. Complicating matters, his cousin Richard arrives to conduct eugenic experiments on the native population; the effort is intended to classify and root out potential revolutionaries. Having mourned a fellow Englishman who recently had been whacked by the rabble, Christopher acquiesces when toughs arrive and demand that Richard leave.

The Irish history lesson intrigues, and one sees resonance in the recent takeovers of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe -- another vestige of colonialism. But one wonders whether Friel wanted to write journalism or a lyric tale? That story lies in Christopher's affection for his Irish house maid Margaret -- who shares his fear of having sheared off their ancestral moorings. This sweet core, though, is muted by academics.

The parallels to "Uncle Vanya" and particularly "The Cherry Orchard" (down to a thicket of doomed trees) are unmistakable even if the comparison does Friel no favors. Chekhov splashed exalted poetry on surrealistic characters flexed in the grip of transition. Friel's earthbound script sags from plot point to plot point.

Simon Jones brings a genial mien to Christopher, a confused chap, wise only in his apprehension of a frightening future. Richard Iglewski puffs up and unloads a stentorian torrent as Richard. Most satisfying among the principals is Sarah Agnew's Margaret. Agnew holds back, providing an understated performance that leaves us to ponder the emotions behind her eyes and in her heart.

Would that others followed. Dowling perhaps has asked his actors to freight this script with more emotion than it can bear. The instinct is understandable, the result hollow.

Scenically, Frank Hallinan Flood's arboreal idyll draws applause at the first curtain, with good reason. What a masterpiece, what potential. Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299

Graydon Royce • groyce@startribune.com