Father Takes the Stage; Daughter, the Court
Charles IsherwoodJune 13, 2013: Fluently directed by Daniella Topol, the play features terrific performances from all three actors and is dappled with passages that cut deeper than the surface conflict. In one scene Ives comforts John with an unusual observation: “When you lose your father, the trees lean down.” Continuing as if this were a perfectly natural occurrence, he clarifies: “The trees aren’t leaning down. The sky is closer ... The universe is stretching out above you. And there is nothing there. There is nothing there.” Although Ms. Dickey does not, in the end, provide many interesting variations on the father-daughter tensions at the heart of the play, “Charles Ives Take Me Home” suggests she is a talent to watch: her writing has freshness, economy, an occasional cheeky vulgarity and a fine measure of poetic insight.
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