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Review
Bhutan
Cherry Lane Theater
October 28, 2006
VanLoan
vanloan@nyconstage.org
It should be noted at the top of the review that Bhutan's author,
Daisy Foote, is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize winning dramatist Horton Foote.
The play is dedicated to him and his influence upon her. If she felt the need to
circumvent any judgments of nepotism, she should not have worried. Bhutan
stands on its own as the work of a maturing playwright notwithstanding the need
for a more rigorous sense of structure.
Set in a small working class town in Massachusetts south of Boston, the play
concerns itself with the struggles of a blue collar family after the death of
its father. Most of the play follows the aspirations of Frances Conroy ( an
sympathetic Sarah Lord) who yearns to escape her dysfunctional household. She
gravitates towards her next door neighbor, a transplanted New Yorker whose
sophistication enthralls Frances (she is a world class traveler and has just
introduced Frances to the beauties of the Eastern kingdom of Bhutan). Her mother
Mary (Tasha Lawrence) struggles in dead-end jobs support her family and
constantly projects a low level anger at the situation of her husband's untimely
death. Her sister Sara (Amy Redford; daughter of Robert, another case of a
famous offspring) is a potential alcoholic moaning over the loss of a long term
relationship which was her doing. Lastly, the only son Warren (Jedadiah Schultz)
and Mary's favorite child is in prison.
The phrase "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" comes to mind in viewing
Bhutan. The longing for a better life, the regret over missed opportunities, the
overall Chekhovian flavor that is often found in father Foote's plays are
present here as well. What Ms. Foote needs to work harder on, it seems, is a
sense of composition. The reason for Warren's jail sentence is withheld to long
especially since the situation is really the focal point of the play. A subplot
about selling the house for a chance at a better life (with its vague Cherry
Orchard feel) is left undeveloped. Frances' fate is left unknown thereby giving
Bhutan the feel of an extended character study rather than a fleshed out play.
The characterizations of the Clancy clan are exceptional, however. Here is where
Ms. Foote excels. Whether it's the humorous, hazily thought out yearnings of
both Mary and Sara, the dreamy reflections of Frances or the cocky, impulsive
assertions of Warren; all the dialogue has the ring of truth. The acting is
uniformly good although everyone struggles with their south-end Boston accents.
Tasha Lawrence is at times a little too harsh as Mary but Jedadiah Schultz hits
all the right notes as the defeated Warren. Nonetheless, Bhutan is an admirable
effort from another talented voice in the Foote clan.
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