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Where there’s a will, there’s a new Daisy Foote play about siblings and money

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

After successfully presented Horton Foote’s “Dividing the Estate” and, most recently, his “Harrison, TX,” Primary Stages now offers the world premiere of “Him,” a new drama by the late playwright’s talented daughter, Daisy Foote.

Opening last Tuesday at 59E59 Theaters, “Him” offers a fairly absorbing family story undone a bit by a facile resolution of its conflict.

“Him” is set in a small town in New Hampshire, where devoted middle-aged siblings, Pauline and Henry, struggle to make ends meet. Their troubles are exacerbated by the fact that their none-too-beloved father (the unseen “Him” of the title) is dying upstairs while their childishly “slow” brother, Farley, has become involved with Louise, another developmentally challenged individual in the neighborhood.

Swilling boxed wine in their shabby house, Pauline and Henry regard their bleak prospects with despair until their father’s death, midway through the play. Then they discover that he secretly acquired a vast tract of pristine woodland. Henry also unearths their dad’s unknown journals, which reveal he was a lyrical nature lover who wanted the land to remain undisturbed.

Pauline, however, aims to build McMansions on their prime 600 acres and busily initiates development plans with a former beau. As Pauline starts spending the big bucks they has yet to acquire, Henry unexpectedly begins to stew about honoring their father’s wishes.

Meanwhile, Farley gets Louise pregnant, but let’s not disclose the second act’s doings.

Unlike so many of her father’s realistic impressions of American life, Foote’s play here is driven harder by obvious plot devices. While these narrative gears tend to grind, they do not detract much from the authenticity of the characters and their relationships within an insular community. The excellence of director Evan Yionoulis’ supportive production also eases the drama’s somewhat noisy machinery.

The playwright’s sister, Hallie Foote, a memorable actress of their father’s works, provides yet another wonderfully acute performance as Pauline, a faded wallflower who assertively blooms when fertilized by money. Melancholy, pill-popping Henry – forever nursing crushes on ineligible men – is not so dynamic a character, but Tim Hopper gives him resonance. Convincing as Farley and Louise, Adam LeFevre and Adina Verson do well by their delicate acting challenge of depicting mentally retarded people.