By Annette Hinkle
Men damaged by war, children who are wise beyond their years, single motherhood and other non-traditional family choices take center stage in Lanford Wilson’s play “Fifth of July,” which opened last week at Bay Street Theatre. And despite the fact the play is set in 1977, the themes remain as compelling and relevant today as they must have been back when it was written.
Directed for Bay Street by Terry Kinney, “Fifth of July” is one of three plays Wilson, a Sag Harbor resident, penned about the Talley family of Lebanon, Missouri — and the only one that doesn’t take place in the 1940s. Set in the historic, but aging and neglected, Talley family home in Lebanon, Missouri, the play features Kenneth Talley (Anson Mount), as a severely wounded Vietnam veteran who has returned to the home he’s inherited and intends to take a teaching job at his former high school. Living at the Talley homestead is his boyfriend, Jed Jenkins (Shane McRae) a botanist who clearly loves the Talley property (as well as Ken) and in recent years, has carefully nurtured and tended the neglected gardens while Ken has spent most of his time in St. Louis.
It’s the Fourth of July and this is one crowded vacation home. Also staying at the Talley place is Ken’s sister, June (Kellie Overbey), her precocious and hopelessly dramatic 13-year-old daughter Shirley (Kally Duling) and their aunt, Sally Friedman (nee Talley), whose courtship with Matt Friedman is the subject of “Talley’s Folly” the second of Wilson’s trilogy. But husband Matt has been dead and cremated for a year now, and Sally (Elizabeth Franz), is planning to move out of state to a retirement community where June and Ken’s parents have already relocated. The purpose of this gathering is ostensibly to finally dispose of Matt’s ashes which Sally keeps in a candy box that she frequently misplaces.
But there are other dealings at work here, and non-family guests who’ve flown in for the occasion include Ken’s childhood chum, John Landis (David Wilson Barnes), and his party-girl wife (heiress to a successful copper business), Gwen (Jennifer Mudge), both of whom were Ken’s college roommates at Berkeley, as was sister June.
Gwen, who has money to burn, is pursuing a career as a country singer and has brought along her guitarist, Weston Hurley (Danny Deferrari) for a stop in Nashville. Ken has secretly invited John and Gwen to the Talley home with the intention of selling them the property for conversion into a recording studio. But John has his own reasons for returning as well, including interest in gaining custody of Shirley, who just might be his child.
The Talleys and their acquaintances are, quite frankly, a mess. Mom and dad have already fled rural Missouri for the coast, leaving the house to the kids. Aunt Sally married a Jewish man whom none of her relatives accepted and now she has to figure out whether he’d want to spend eternity on their property. Ken is openly gay, distant, and missing both legs as the result of a war-time explosion halfway around the world. Shirley is illegitimate and has been raised primarily by Sally and Matt. June isn’t sure how she’s going to suddenly be a mother again — and it’s certainly not the sort of thing she envisioned 13 years earlier when she was the politically motivated and hitchhiking across the country. Meanwhile, Gwen’s partying days are obviously not far enough behind her and John is trying to control her business behind her back while setting up phony record deals to keep her happy.
“Fifth of July” is an appropriate title for this play, as both metaphorically and physically, there is a certain sense of the “morning after” running throughout the two acts. The hangover in this case is the loss of idealism, free love and political activism that defined the 1960s — compounded by the heartbreak of a pointless war. The play is the quintessential story of the well-adjusted nuclear family gone awry. The once adorable love child is now a dramatic pre-pubescent drama queen prattling on about oppression and the moral degradation that comes through witnessing the unseemly antics of the adults around her. The Vietnam vet keeps everyone at arm’s length and is bitter about the reactions his war injury inspires in the faces of others. The party girl knows no boundaries and recounts her drug use and free love with an air of reckless abandon and nostalgia.
But somehow, it all works — primarily due to the binding forces of the quiet and steady Jed, and the non-traditional matriarch, Sally, who represents the best of what the ‘60s ultimately had to offer — tolerance and unconditional love. Sally is endearing in her acceptance of those around her and also in her fervent determination to keep the family intact when all signs indicate they are about to flee to separate corners of the world.
Though this play should be a downer, rife as it is with shattered dreams and damaged lives, there remains something incredibly hopeful about this dysfunctional group of people. Despite her family’s non-traditional lifestyles, Sally remains supportive of them all —probably because of the prejudices she and her own husband endured as a “mixed couple” in the conservative South.
While frenetic at times, this production is thoroughly enjoyable and will leave a lasting impression on anyone whose family members have taken an “alternative course” (and in this day and age, whose hasn’t?). Kinney does a fine job directing the talented cast (particularly fun to watch is Mudge as Gwen —the over the top party girl we’ve all known at some point in our lives).
Kudos also to set designer David Gallo for recreating a fabulous fading southern estate, complete with kudzu encrusted columns, as well as lighting designer David Weiner and sound designer Obadiah Eaves whose effects mimic the setting of the hot summer sun, cicadas, crickets, fireflies and fireworks in such a way that leaves you longing for a tall glass of lemonade (or better yet, a mint julep). Also fabulous are Sarah J. Holden’s ‘70s costume choices.
Whether or not it’s set in a familiar time period, audience members of all ages will certainly be able to relate to the play’s message. With “Fifth of July,” Lanford Wilson has redefined what makes a family — expanding it’s borders so as to also broaden the minds of those who once believed it to be a narrowly defined set of circumstances and players. For that reason, it’s a play that remains both timeless and truly thought provoking — especially in the face of a new set of wars and our ever evolving family circles.
“Fifth of July” is a co-production with the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts and runs through August 1 at Bay Street Theatre (Long Wharf, Sag Harbor). Showtimes are Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 7 p.m. Matinees are offered Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $55 to $65. Call 725-9500 to reserve.
Top: The cast of “Fifth of July” include (standing) Kellie Overbey, Shane McRae, David Wilson Barnes, Jennifer Mudge and (seated) Elizabeth Franz, Kally Duling and Anson Mount. Jerry Lamonica photo.
