BWW Reviews: ROSES Smell Sweet at Mark Taper Forum
By: Don Grigware
Frank D. Gilroy's Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Subject Was Roses depicts a dysfunctional family circa 1946 whose son returns from WWII... a man. The strained day-to-day relationship between the mother and father changes for the better with his return, but only briefly, as buried feelings surface inducing intensely explosive confrontations. The universal themes of love and freedom remain as clear and untarnished as they were in the 60s, and this new production comes full circle for Martin Sheen, who also costarred in the original Broadway version in 1965 as son Timmy.
Kitchen sink reality mixed with just the right amount of humor make for great drama, and Gilroy keeps his Irish wit grounded in the character of father, John Cleary (Sheen). He's a mean, self-centered bastard at times and loves his drink, but it's his irrascible nature and how he breaks into song and dance at the drop of a hat that make us laugh. Timmy (Brian Geraghty) takes after his dad, as he too loves to drink, but set John up on a pedestal? Doubtful, as the son can now better comprehend his parents' dilemma and their weak spots. The chemistry between Sheen and Geraghty is electric; they play so well off each other. Both actors turn in astounding performances.
Long-suffering mother and wife Nettie (Frances Conroy) is one unhappy lady. By today's standards she would have divorced her husband years earlier. However, in the 40s good Catholic couples did not divorce: they stayed together for the sake of the children. Conroy is luminous in her scenes, my favorite being the next to last in Act II, where she confides in Timmy how she really feels about the road she has taken. The memories she shares of her other beaux are vividly drawn. This is a lovely performance, and exquisite writing from Gilroy. Not unlike Amanda Wingfield's description of her gentelmen callers in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, Nettie's recollections are illuminatingly lyrical.
A special nod to Walt Spangler for his set of the semi run-down New York middle-class apartment and outline of the neighborhood buildings behind.
Beautifully directed by Pepe, this is a handsome production with elegant acting, that frankly could not be better.
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