Review: MOTHERS AND SONS at Shakespeare & Company Encourages Berkshire Audiences to Think Openly And Differently

Terrance McNally is in large part responsible for several acclaimed theatrical endeavors including personal favorites: THE RITZ, LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION!, and RAGTIME. His work can be challenging for audiences as it tends to center on the difficulties of and urgent need for human connection. Shakespeare & Company's presentation of the critically-acclaimed drama, MOTHERS AND SONS is no exception.

MOTHERS AND SONS portrays a woman who pays an unexpected visit to the New York apartment of her late son's partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son. Challenged to face how society has changed around her, generations collide as she revisits the past and begins to see the life her son might have led.

Director James Warwick acknowledges the piece is "complex indeed. And challenging... and full of hope, expectation, sadness... and above all in my case... love." His invitation to "join us as we see how assumptions about those with 'alternative lifestyles' have changed over the last few decades and how this has enhanced the lives of all of us in the process" proves to be a most welcomed one that Berkshire theatre goers will be wise to accept.

"The play captures growth and change of relationships," said Shakespeare & Company veteran Annette Miller, in a sometimes uncomfortable but powerful portrayal of Katharine Gerard. "It's a moving story about how we face challenges, and the necessity of learning new ways of living. Change requires self-discovery and that is the journey Katharine takes us on." The strength and quality of Ms. Miller's performance is equaled by castmates Bill Mootos in the role of Cal Porter, her son's lover, and David Gow as his now husband Will Ogden. We feel a deep tugging at our heart strings as they very effectively play out poignant moments such as Cal explaining to Katharine how he "never expected to be a father" while the younger Will, "never expected not to be". We feel it again as Will, who understandably has little tolerance and thinly-veiled contempt for Katharine, her narrow minded point-of-view, and intolerance; explains to his and Kal's adorable 6-year old son, Bud (a role being shared in this production by newcomers Hayden Hoffman and Evan Miller) that: "Pop-Pop is nice to everyone, even those who disapprove of him". And yet again, in relation to Katharine's obsessive desire to learn who made her son sick ultimately leading to his death when she proclaims to Cal:" I would have found out and killed him". To which he responds: "What would killing one another have accomplished? Besides, it gave us something to belong to". In the 95-minute emotional roller coaster ride the talented cast adeptly takes us on, we experience a range from rage in moments such as when Katharine admonishes that her son Andre "wasn't gay when he came to New York. He was like his Mother, who wishes he had been more like his Father, which if he had, he'd still be alive" ... to euphory and bliss as when Will extols the joy associated with parenthood and nearly every detail involved in his becoming one. Along the way the script is flipped repeatedly as each of the characters and we share fear, pain, anxiety, love, loss, the struggle with imperfection, and hopefully, the realization that, as human beings, we are more alike than we are different. This funny, powerful, and poignant journey with its twists and turns offers catharsis and understanding for those wise and brave enough to take it. I strongly encourage doing so.

With Set Design by Patrick Brennan, Lighting by James W. Bilnoski, Costumes by Stella Giulietta Schwartz, Sound by Erik Lawson, and Stage Management by Matthew Luppino, MOTHERS AND SONS is generously sponsored by Jerry and Honie Berko. Performances continue at the intimate Elayne P. Bernstein theatre on the truly beautiful grounds of Shakespeare & Company in Lennox, MA through September 9th.

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