Home Fires Opens at CAT

(Apologies, I forgot to post this when it aired. Got a little tangled up in the 24 Hour Theatre Festival which I'll write about a little more soon.)

Sometimes, when I get email responses about my reviews, one note that continues to pop us is that I am too critical of the script versus the actors and designers. Can’t help it folks, the script fashions the world of the play and if it rings false, then there is little good actors and designers can do to save it. While I don’t think Jack Heidner’s HOME FIRES, which is the current offering of Chamberlayne Actors Theatre is a complete mess, it does have some serious issues that are hard to overcome.

The Second World War is a deep well and many wonderful plays have been written with that as a background. HOME FIRES is set in a boarding house in Texas where a normal family is trying hard to stretch every nickel in order to keep their own home fires burning. The house is populated by decent hard working just plain folks, so you know they’ve got to have plenty of quirks to make the evening exciting.

Rebekah Spence is Nettie Morris, the matriarch single mother whose no-good husband ran off before the play got started. Spence is demanding, she tries to rent out every available space in the house, choosing to make a few dollars over her own family’s comfort. Spence has that bone weary approach to running the house and you know she has taken more than one shot to the chin trying to keep it all together. Her performance is very strong.

Also turning in good performances in supporting roles are Ashlyn Landrum and Amy Berlin as war relief workers who may or may not be just good friends. Their Boston Marriage becomes a small metaphor for the changing times as they try to weather out their stormy relationship and realize that some things just change without any real reason.

Emily Turner does well with her role of temptress. She has the moves that makes the audience just hate her – and that’s a good thing. You don’t want your villains bland, and Turner gives us one worth of a 10-year run on a soap opera.

Several newcomers round out the cast including Charles Belt, Heather Yarborough, Kate Vehrs, and Miranda Webster.

One of the things that truly delights me with CAT is their attention to the details on the technical side. Lin Heath has created a very good set that looks like it could actually house eight people and feed ‘em all to boot. Elizabeth Nguyen has pulled together some wonderful period clothes, including some scandalous vintage lingerie for Ms. Turner. She turns a seductive moment into a classic pin up moment and shows she has the chops to tackle just about any assignment. Gretta Daughtrey’s lights are good and Buddy Bishop does a fine job on sound.

Director Toni Cacioppo has taken a script that has a few too many holes and a couple of extra subplots and managed to wrangle out some good performances. I have a few minor quibbles, a couple of pacing moments and one lengthy blackout, but she has still made HOME FIRES a production worth seeing. If this production is any indication of what’s to come, CAT could have a mighty fine season.

FOR WCVE Public Radio, I’m John Porter.