Reviewed by Judy Richter
Thanks to Marin Theatre
Company, young
playwright Sharr White couldn't ask for a better cast or production for the world premiere
of his "Sunlight." Winner of MTC's 2009 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, "Sunlight" will go on
to three more regional theaters as part of the National New Play Network
Rolling World Premiere. Those theaters are Arts West in Seattle, Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis and New Jersey
Repertory Theatre.
The play also has won the Edgerton Foundation's New American Play Award.
Current
events inspired this two-act play, which takes place after 9/11 and subsequent
revelations of torture of alleged terrorists in Abu Ghraib prison. The setting
is the wood-paneled living room (handsome set by J.B. Wilson with lighting by Michael
Palumbo) in the
home of the president of a small New England university. It's an early spring
evening, and snow is falling, threatening the red tulips seen through the
window.
Matthew
(Charles Dean)
has been president of the university for some 30 years, but his tenure is threatened.
He shut down a student newspaper after it ran an article saying he had
vandalized the office of the dean of the law school. That dean, Vincent (Kevin
Rolston), is his
son-in-law, whom he has mentored and promoted over the years even though Vincent's
conservative views are the polar opposite of Matthew's liberalism. Matthew is
deeply disturbed with Vincent because the latter was one of the attorneys who
helped the U.S. government come up with the legal justification for torture --
a.k.a. enhanced interrogation techniques.
Matthew's
daughter, Charlotte (Carrie Paff), an attorney with a prestigious firm, is caught in the
crossfire between them. However, she's already estranged from Vincent for
various reasons. Also part of the action is Midge (Wanda McCaddon), Matthew's crusty personal
assistant for some 30 years. In the meantime, the faculty senate is debating a
vote of no confidence against Matthew, and it's unlikely that the board of
regents will support him.
Although
personal relationships figure strongly in the plot, this is a political play.
White gives both Vincent and Matthew cogent justifications for their opposing
beliefs. After the horrors of the 9/11 attacks, one's emotions may agree with
Vincent that it's vital to get information from terrorists by almost any means
possible. Some might say that death is too good for them. On the other hand,
one must also understand Matthew's rightful insistence that we are a nation of
laws and that torture is anathema to all that we stand for. The playwright tips
the scales in Matthew's favor, especially since Charlotte and Midge agree with
him.
Dean
and McCaddon, who both have had long, distinguished careers in the Bay Area,
are a joy to watch as their characters deal with each other and the two younger
characters. Paff is terrific as the tightly wound, emotionally vulnerable
Charlotte. Rolston nicely underplays Vincent, presenting his arguments
forcefully while showing a more human side where his wife and father-in-law are
concerned.
MTC
artistic director Jasson Minadakis skillfully directs this first-rate cast, aided by Callie
Floor's costumes
and Chris Houston's
sound and piano score. It's difficult to predict how this play will fare in
later years when the events that inspired it are more-distant memories, but
it's easier to foresee that White could be a playwright to be reckoned with.
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