Review: HONOUR by Ruskin Group Theatre

HONOUR, written by Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Max Mayer who helped execute the workshop of the play, makes this production an especially meaningful return to the material and a powerful way to inaugurate the Kaplan Stage at the new Ruskin Performing Arts Center, now home to two separate theaters.

Matthew Letscher, Ariana Afradi. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

Murray-Smith’s play is a sharp and authentic examination of love, betrayal, and the fragile agreements that hold marriages together. It begins when George (Matthew Letscher), a successful writer, welcomes Claudia (Ariana Afradi), a dark-haired, young beauty into his office for an interview. What starts out as a seemingly innocent introduction soon turns their worlds upset down, along with George’s wife of 32 years, Honor (Marcia Cross) and their daughter Sophie (Jude Elizabeth Mayer), just four years younger than Claudia. Four voices, one marriage – and lots of emotional impact.

Matthew Letscher, Marcia Cross. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

All seems settled and comfortable in George and Honor’s marriage with their easy comfort being together seemingly creating at solid partnership. But when George’s affair with Claudia begins, he decides to be honest with his wife, surprising her when he announces his plan to leave immediately and move in with Claudia. Of course, it’s a universal theme in many marriages, a middle-aged husband pursuing a younger woman. But George’s decision to be open and honest with his wife delivers shock waves of emotions after decades of loyalty, intimacy, and compromise unravel in a single evening.

Marcia Cross, Ariana Afradi. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

With wit and emotional precision, the play explores the personal cost of truth and the reverberations of a single, life-altering choice - asking whether honesty is always an act of courage, or sometimes one of cruelty. And is blind loyalty to another person worth the cost?

Marcia Cross, Matthew Letscher. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

Brilliantly cast, Marcia Cross channels a true “desperate housewife” whose life is turned upside down in an instant as the shock of her husband’s desire to leave her throws her lifelong plans out the window, just as her own writing career is about to take off after a long hiatus when she put the needs of her bread-winner husband and daughter before her own. Realistically sharing a full range of emotions from moment-to-moment, Cross lets us see into the heart and soul of a woman as the foundation of her marriage is pulled out from under her.

Marcia Cross, Matthew Letscher, Ariana Afradi. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

As the straying husband, Matthew Letscher shares both the bravado of a man whose libido has been reawakened and a man racked with guilt but determined to put his own needs before his wife and daughter. Perhaps his strength lies in being able to pursue what he thinks he truly wants despite the damage it causes to his comfortable but somewhat boring life as it has existed for several years. His biggest concern, it seems, is that Honor not destroy all the financial plans he put in place during their marriage by throwing caution to the wind when it comes to their investments.

Ariana Afradi, Matthew Letscher.  Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

Ariana Afradi’s Claudia is a somewhat more superficial character, yet more comfortable accepting the reality of her attraction to George, perhaps seeing his success as a stepping stone for her own career. As daughter Sophie, Jude Elizabeth Mayer channels her concern of how others may see her parents as failures, not only to each other but to her potential in the business world.

Marcia Cross, Jude Elizabeth Mayer. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

Director Max Mayer is to be commended for keeping the action authentic and story realistically contrite after helping execute the play’s workshop, making this production an especially meaningful return to the material and a powerful way to inaugurate the Kaplan Stage at the new Ruskin Performing Arts Center.

Marcia Cross, Matthew Letscher. Photo credit: Jeff Lorch

Kudos to his creative team: Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic Design), Edward Salas (Lighting and Sound Design), and Michael Mullen’s costume design which allows for quick changes between scenes and time. And kudos to dialect coach Gaby Santinelli for creating effective British accents for the characters, although the action could take place anywhere around the world, given the play’s universal end-of-a-marriage story.

Produced by John Ruskin, Artistic Director of Ruskin Group Theatre, and Managing Director Michael R. Myers, Murray-Smith’s HONOUR runs Thursdays – Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm through March 22 in the new home of Ruskin Group Theatre at 2800 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90405.