REVIEW: ‘Painting Churches’ looks on the bright side

Kathleen Chalfant and John Cunningham glow in Tina Howe’s play

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Playwright Tina Howe tends to write in two distinct modes. Either she dreams up wacky absurdist plays like “Birth and After Birth” and “Approaching Zanzibar” or writes fairly traditional comedy-dramas like “Pride’s Crossing” and “Coastal Disturbances.”

Opening on Tuesday at Theatre Row, Keen Company’s so-so revival of “Painting Churches” offers a prime example of Howe writing in her straightforward manner.

This handsomely crafted play, first staged in 1983, remains a charming piece about an artist, Mags, who paints a portrait of her mildly eccentric Boston parents, Fanny and Gardner Church.

The Churches, a distinguished yet larky couple getting on in years, are packing up their belongings and moving to a smaller place. Gardner is a much-lauded poet now beginning to dodder. The sprightly Fanny inclines to distraction. Both enjoy their cocktails.

They share a fond if distant relationship with Mags, who realizes that this is the last time she will see her aging parents in their usual setting.

Director Carl Forsman’s production briskly sticks to the brighter side of Howe’s story. Although a twilight of senility and death lurks around the play’s edges, Forsman and his actors mostly choose to portray the Churches and their daughter simply as delightful people.

Picturesquely dressed by designer Jennifer Paar, a husky-voiced Kathleen Chalfant and a silver-haired John Cunningham share a conspiratorial air as the Churches, who obviously take great, giggling pleasure in each other’s company. Kate Turnbull’s earnest but drab depiction of Mags is not nearly as interesting as the parents.

While it’s fun to observe great pros like Chalfant and Cunningham act so adorably together, Forsman’s production does not derive from the play that sense of poignancy that makes “Painting Churches” such a lovely comedy.

Possibly hampered by economics, designer Beowulf Boritt’s setting is not up to his usual conceptual standard. The chocolate draperies that back the well-furnished setting for the Church’s Beacon Hill parlor unfortunately suggest a community theater production.

“Painting Churches” continues through April 7 at Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.keencompany.org.