Review: FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS Continues at A.R.T.

Presented by the A.R.T. in collaboration with The Public Theater; written by Suzan-Loir Parks; directed by Jo Bonney; scenic design, Neil Patel; costume design, Esosa; lighting design, Lap Chi Chu; sound design/music supervision, Dan Moses Schreier; music director, Steven Bargonetti; songs and additional music by Suzan-Lori Parks; hair, wig and makeup design, Rob Greene and J. Jared Janas; fight director, Thomas Schall; production stage manager, Evangeline Rose Whitlock

Cast in Order of Appearance:

Chorus of Less Than Desirable Slaves: Charlie Hudson, III, Julian Rozzell, Jr., Tonye Patano, Jacob Ming-Trent (Patrena Murray February 6-March 1); The Oldest Old Man, Harold Surratt; Hero, Benton Greene; Penny, Jenny Jules; Homer, Sekou Laidlow; A Colonel in the Rebel Army, Ken Marks; Smith, A Captive Union Soldier, Michael Crane; Odyssey Dog, Jacob Ming-Trent (Patrena Murray February 6-March 1); musical performer, Steven Bargonetti

Performances and Tickets:

Now through March 1, American Repertory Theater, Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Mass.; tickets start at $25 and are available by calling the Box Office at 617-547-8300 or online at www.americanrepertorytheater.org

With FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS PARTS 1, 2 AND 3, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks has embarked on what will become a nine-play journey through the lives of African American men and women from the Civil War through present day. Much like the late August Wilson's 10-play Century Cycle, Parks' series aims to follow generations of families through the decades, using wars as milestones.

In Parts 1, 2 and 3 (performed together as three one-act plays with one intermission), a slave named Hero (Benton Greene) must decide whether or not to follow his "boss master" (Ken Marks), a Colonel in the Confederate Army, off to war. He's been promised his freedom if he goes, but that promise has been made, and broken, before. Alternately, if he doesn't go, what wrath will the Colonel rain down on not just Hero but on the other slaves on the Colonel's Texas plantation, as well?

Caught in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, Hero decides to leave his friends and common law wife Penny (Jenny Jules) in order to continue his duties as the Colonel's valet on the battlefields of the Civil War. Hero is disgusted to be fighting on the wrong side of the cause, but he's practical - and loyal - and he believes his worth is measured by how valuable a slave he can be.

Once at war, Hero struggles mightily with the same dilemma that haunted him on the plantation: do the Colonel's bidding in order to be given freedom, or make a run for it and seize freedom for his own. The situation is complicated when the Colonel captures a wounded Union solider (Michael Crane) and puts Hero in charge of watching him. During the confusion of battle, Hero and the soldier could easily escape. Yet, Hero is still torn between the relative safety of the devil he knows and the fear of what would happen to him if he were caught by one of the many patrols along the road.

Many battles and many months later, Hero returns to the plantation a changed man. Scarred by the unspeakable things he's seen, and perhaps done, while at war, he is more confident than when he left but also less kind. He has also proudly changed his name to Ulysses, saying it suits him better than Hero. No doubt he is comparing himself to the Union General Grant, but ironically it is the flawed classic Greek warrior Ulysses he more closely resembles. Neither a conquering hero nor abject villain, his identity lies somewhere ambiguously in between.

This tortuous ambiguity that Parks infuses in her Hero/Ulysses makes FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS as much a Greek tragedy as is Homer's Odyssey from which her main characters draw their names. Yet there is also a contemporary pulse in her dialog - and in the bluesy music that singer/guitarist Steven Bargonetti performs throughout the play - that turns this Civil War epic into an unflinching examination of the racial barriers that still exist today. When at one point the sadistic Colonel says quite simply, "I am grateful every day that God made me white," the impact feels like a punch in the gut. Clearly there is still such a thing as white male privilege, and our country is still engaged in a racial, political, sexual, and socio-economic civil war.

Parks' realistic yet lyrical dialog entwines the past with the present in a way that feels timeless and natural. Scenic designer Neil Patel and costume designer Esosa have also extended this seamless mash-up of two different centuries into their sets and costumes. A cramped clapboard slave shack sits solemnly center stage, but an expansive raised sloped catwalk that allows its travelers to be silhouetted against a vast lighted scrim behind stretches off into the distance as if connecting the action to another place and time. Well-worn Civil War era uniforms and plantation work clothes are also paired with modern-day cargo pants and footwear, suggesting that the characters in the play are dealing with issues that straddle 150 years or more of history.

Despite its grand epic sweep, though, FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS is ultimately deeply intimate. Hero's decisions bring life-changing consequences to Penny, his best friend Homer (Sekou Laidlaw), and even his dog Odyssey (Jacob Ming-Trent). Time and again Hero is faced with choices that pit himself against his community. To whom will he be loyal, his master, his friends, or his own future?

Greene is a complex, tightly wound Hero, wanting desperately to live up to his name but hobbled by fear and ambition. He manages the difficult task of being sympathetic even when hurting those who love him. As Hero's wife Penny, Jules wears her heart on her sleeve, terrified yet supportive when sending her man off to war. Upon his return, she moves quickly from joy to despair to resignation to courage, choosing ultimately her own path to freedom rather than following his.

Laidlow is a steadfast Homer, a true friend who emerges into a leader. Marks makes his Colonel a swaggering psychopath, seemingly ineffectual but truly cruel beneath his feigned affability. As the Union solider, Crane is likable and sincere. As the Oldest Old Man, Harrold Surratt lends wisdom and a world-weary perspective. Bargonetti is an affable presence whose minstrelsy adds a layer of rich emotion. His singing is soulful and his guitar work sublime.

The most surprising performance comes from Jacob Ming-Trent as Hero's loyal companion, Odyssey Dog. Thought to have run off in Part 1 after being mistreated, he appears in Part 3 exuberantly. Shaking and wagging and barking out simple but poignant philosophies, he brings the play an air of levity and a hope for the future. The greatest humanity, it seems, can be found in man's best friend. It will be interesting to see what new adventures Parks has in store for Hero and Odyssey in the next installments of FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS.

PHOTOS BY EVGENIA ELISEEVA: Ken Marks as the Colonel, Benton Greene as Hero and Michael Crane as a Union Soldier; Benton Greene with the cast of FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS; Ken Marks as the Colonel and Benton Greene; Jenny Jules as Penny and Benton Greene; Jenny Jules, Jacob Ming-Trent as Odyssey Dog and Sekou Laidlaw as Homer; Steven Bargonetti

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