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Article IndexRichard Nelson’s drama studies an American family’s reactions to current events
BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
OFF BROADWAY REVIEW
The third in a four-play series by writer-director Richard Nelson regarding a middle-class American family in upstate New York, “Sorry” opened on Tuesday at the Public Theater.
The playwright’s intent in these works is to show a representative American family casually discussing the events and trends of their times as they go about their lives. “Sorry” takes place in the early morning hours of Nov. 6, 2012 so of course, yesterday’s election issues figure among their conversations.
The series’ previous plays, “That Hopey Changey Thing” and “Sweet and Sad,” occur on specific days respectively in 2010 and 2011 and address some topics germane to those dates.
The Apple family consists of four siblings of the Baby Boomer generation. Richard (Jay O. Sanders) is a successful lawyer who lives in Manhattan and often visits his sisters Barbara (MaryAnn Plunkett) and Marian (Laila Robins), both schoolteachers, who share a house in Rhinebeck. Another frequent visitor is their sister Jane (J. Smith-Cameron), who writes non-fiction books. Like everyone else, their lives and relationships with other people have changed somewhat over the years.
What sadly faces them on this day in “Sorry” is that their beloved, elderly uncle, Benjamin (Jon DeVries), a retired and ailing actor who resides with Barbara and Marian, is about to be taken to an assisted care facility. Benjamin’s increasing forgetfulness -- and other troubling manifestations – means that he can no longer live with them. On a metaphorical level, the accomplished but fast-fading Benjamin might be considered symbolic of the previous generation.
The sisters and their brother are revealed in various states of distress over Benjamin’s departure but that does not prevent them from general chitchat about their lives and what’s happening in the world around them. Politics, public personalities, even Hurricane Sandy are among their various concerns.
Not much actually happens as these people casually share breakfast and prepare the genial but unwitting Benjamin for his journey. Like the earlier plays, “Sorry” is not a story-driven piece but one in which familiar characters trade thoughts about the world as they see it.
As the two-hour play drifts along around a dining room table, what might well seem tedious becomes rather fascinating through the beautifully natural, understated performances by the actors, who already have played these people in the previous segments. Their unaffected acting is lovely in its human detail.
Assessing the significance of the rueful “Sorry” really must wait until after the fourth play is written and performed. In the meantime, a bargain $15 ticket buys a lot of exceptional acting and some thoughtful observations upon American life as we are living it.
“Sorry” continues through Nov. 18 at the Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., New York. Call (212) 967-7555 or visit www.publictheater.org.
RECENT REVIEWS BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
REVIEW: ‘The Whale’ offers a sad tale
REVIEW: ‘Bad Jews’ fight over a family heirloom
REVIEW: ‘A Summer Day’ looks pretty gloomy
