Review: Discovering ANOTHER WAY HOME at Theater J

Summer means camp, and so it is at Theater J, which has been decked out in pine board, nature paintings and signs made of sticks for its closing production of the season, Another Way Home by Anna Ziegler.

We meet Philip and Lillian Nadelman, a New York couple of many years recounting their weekend visit to their son in Maine. The oft-seen Rick Foucheux and Naomi Jacobson are just so good as the couple, who interrupt each other in their very naturalistic and often funny retelling, you almost want to have them just talk the whole evening.

Especially when they get to the camp, where their troubled son is not so happy to see them. After all, he is not a camper there any more, but is old enough to be a counselor in training. His homesickness is quite a different kind - he's sick of his home, where it becomes clear his parents are getting on his last nerve with all of their fawning, lecturing and attention.

Chris Stinson is so believable as the off-put and off-putting Joey that audiences might be relieved when he runs away from them into the woods.

There follows the drama as the parents begin picking at one another's faults as well as they fight through the worry. A respite comes whenever Shayna Blass appears as the sister left back home, left to study for the SATS, worship Taylor Swift and worry about her brother in her own way.

Another counselor who appears (Thony Mena) tries to support everybody, but it's clear he may be pining for his own family as well.

Another Way Home would seem to normally break for intermission with the news that Joey has gone missing. But theaters seem to have fewer intermissions these days, lest their audiences run away as well. Without the break, the play seems to last longer than it actually is, giving an uneven narrative arc to the drama.

If the Nadelmans aren't having a great time at the camp, the audience sure is, thanks to the rustic set by Paige Hathaway that's so fun to look at and the much more subtle work by lighting designer Harold F. Burgess II, with the sun slowly setting to dusk, and Sound Designer Matthew Nielson, whose sounds of nature ensure our place in the woods.

Shirley Serotsky, who has been serving as the theater's associate artistic director, does a good job directing, getting out fine performances out of each actor and keeping the narrative moving. There are some unexpected jolts, though, as when the father moves from easy going faux pal to enraged and overheated dad.

Viewers may easily find themselves within this relatable imperfect family; the trick would be in finding one way's out of all its petty skirmishes.

Running time: 90 minutes.

Photo credit: Thony Mena, Rick Foucheux and Chris Stinson in "Another Way Home" at Theater J. Photo by C. Stanley Photography.

Another Way Home runs through June 17 at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW, Washington. Call 202-777-3210 or go online.

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