"Who's really the one with the agenda?" silently ricochets around the theatre as characters in The War at Home push the limits of fighting under the banner of "For the Family." On a subject that may have been pushed to the back-burner, playwright Brad Erickson reminds us that it doesn't take government to keep the war for love from rearing its ugly head in the tiniest pockets of America.
Household crisis ensues when Jason, the "romantic transcendental agnostic" gay son of a preacher man, returns to his Southern Baptist home in Charleston, South Carolina to mount a play championing gay marriage and belittling the church.
Alex Ross as Bill, Jason's father and the town's respected reverend, was the evening's spotlight performer.
Ross' presence and command for the dialogue created a very trusting relationship with the house and other actors.
His balancing act between warm smiles and furrowed brows quickly shaped Bill's precarious ordeal between his family, his job, and his faith.
Plus, his voice was charmingly reminiscent of a narrator for Christmas-time cartoons.
Patrick MacKellan as Danny, Bill's steadfast and stalwart assistant reverend, was delectable to distaste.
Spouting hate-mongering principles under the flags of piety and prayer, MacKellan kept the largely gay audience on their toes.
When Danny goes the length to have photos taken of each person who buys a ticket to Jason's play to be posted online, we fume.
Amusingly, however, with the use of hymns as scene interludes showcasing his phenomenal singing voice, MacKellan was hissed on his third entrance but applauded after leaving the piano!
Peter Matthews (Jason) and Jason Jeremy (Reese) kept the youthful pulse of the show.
Mattews' inconsistent accent worked against him, but he made up for it with the familiarity of his relationship with Jeremy.
Matthews juggled Jason's issues with fidelity well, though at times a bit understated when matched with Jeremy's bombastic delivery. Still, both had fine chemisty and everyone loves free eye-candy!Dinah (Adrienne Krug), the bitingly conservative and easily ignorant mother, comes off a bit too archetypical, regarding Jason's homosexuality as "a phase," considering his marriage a sham, and even denying global warming.
Krug made Dinah fun to abhor, but her character's story-arch seemed a tad predictable.
Beyond Bill's first tirade, (too "make-sure-the-audience-is-keeping-up"), the script picked up after the conflict was clearly established.
Many of the scenes were craftily bedecked with humor and intensity, like an unlikely father-son conversation where Jason seeks advice from his father on the subject of adultery in a gay marriage.
Erickson does not shy around bigger questions, unafraid of political correctness.
Bill's ten-o'clock hour epiphany was magnificent, both in prose and performance.
Another enjoyable moment was when all five characters watch television with nothing more telling than their faces.
Erickson's use of the media as a vehicle for opening familial and religious conversation was clever.
The War at Home may be a "bunch of liberal queers preaching to the choir"…but at least this choir is still listening.
The War at Home has extended its run at NCTC through Nov. 11 with performances Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00PM and Sundays at 2:00PM.
For more information or tickets ($22-$34) visit
www.nctcsf.org.
The New Conservatory Theatre has provided a great home for world premiere and gay-themed plays in San Francisco since 1981, including the 2002 debut of
Stephen Fales'
Confessions of a Mormon Boy, which later became an off-Broadway hit.
NCTC is located at 25 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.
Photos by Stephanie Temple
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