A lesson learned for all artists: don't let your own personal issues cloud your work, even if your subject is supposed to be your personal issues. The Huntington Theatre Company continues its 2000-2001 season with Jon Robin Baitz's A Fair Country, a play that examines the dynamics of family relationships in the face of apartheid in South Africa during the 1970s. Despite its efforts to fuse comedy and drama with a rather original premise, the production does little more than subject the audience to the individual woes of the playwright.
A Fair Country was inspired by Baitz's experiences growing up with his family in South Africa during the apartheid era. The play is about the Burgess family - a clan of American expatriates residing in Durban, South Africa in the midst of the nation's political turmoil. Patrice (Pamela Payton-Wright) has succumbed to her duties as the wife of a diplomat, making her unsatisfied and resentful of her soured life. Alec (Alex Draper), the oldest son, is a student at the Columbia School of Journalism, where he has become actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement. Gil (Matthew Wilkas), the youngest son, lives with his parents in Durban and is continually subjected to both the chaos of South Africa and the ticking time bomb of his home life. Desperate to leave his post and relocate his family, US diplomat and patriarch Harry Burgess (Frank Converse) makes a compromise that, in addition to resulting in a transfer from Durban to Hague, Holland, ultimately tears his family apart.
A Fair Country fails to encourage the confidence in the Boston drama scene gained earlier this fall by the Huntington's stellar production of Dead End, (which opened the company's 2000-2001 season). Despite Baitz's manipulation of apartheid with respect to the unraveling of the Burgess family, A Fair Country portrays nothing more than yet another family in distress. The dynamics of the Burgess family itself are not unique, either ? how many times have we seen the psychotic mother tear apart her younger son? How often has the older son been the catalyst for catastrophe? How much more acquainted do we need to be with the seemingly innocuous and well-meaning father-turned-villain? All of it is uncomfortably familiar and uninspiring. Even the attempts at wit are trite, and the climax is typical of all dramas that recount the destruction of a family.
Despite the script's lack of originality, however, the actors still manage to shine on stage. This is the mark of a truly great company of actors ? they work with what they are given and somehow manage to turn a whole lot of nothing into an enjoyable theater-going experience.
Pamela Payton-Wright's comic and caustic Patrice is the deranged mother in every sense of the phrase. Between the flailing arms, cracking voice, and glass of champagne, believing that this woman is disturbed takes no tremendous leap of faith.
Matthew Wilkas, a recent graduate of Boston University, is both endearing and poignant as Gil. He struggles with the conflict between his loyalty to his mother and his burgeoning desire to escape. Equally heartfelt is Blue Light Theater Company member Alex Draper as Alec. He is a firecracker on stage, exploding with emotion and passion. Despite a hackneyed theme and the often-insipid dialogue, these actors still manage to make the audience feel for them. Baitz gives them very little to work with, and they succeed in giving a great performance in spite of him.
Given the critical acclaim it received following its 1996 premiere at the Lincoln Center, one can't help but wonder what happened to A Fair Country as it made its way to Boston from New York. While not entirely unpleasant, the play is neither refreshing nor rousing. It offers no new perspectives on family relationships, and the apartheid angle is not fully developed.
While not without its merits, A Fair Country doesn't show the same promise and potential as the gripping Dead End. Let's hope that the rest of Huntington's 2000-2001 season does not continue in this faltering fashion.
