Theater Review—

Sad ‘Christmas Ride Home’ Is Nevertheless Brilliant In Its Telling And Acting

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN — At the Sunday afternoon symposium following Long Wharf’s production of Paula Vogel’s The Long Christmas Ride Home last weekend, an audience member raised the question of why the playwright chose to have the children in the family represented by puppets.

Various possible answers were tossed out: to reflect the helplessness of children who feel that they are totally controlled by whoever is pulling their strings? to add to the dramatic richness of a play that makes ample use of visual symbols? to make reference to Asian techniques in order to reinforce a thematic link to Japanese art that plays a crucial role in the development of one of the main characters? Because this is a play about encapsulated memory, and children’s lives are so dominated by the creations of Jim Henson that it makes sense for them to see themselves as Muppets?

It could be a subject for endless speculation but it doesn’t matter. The puppets are droll and delightful in what is otherwise a sad story that has clear roots in the work of Thornton Wilder, as well as more distant echoes of Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote and Tony Kushner.    

The first half of the play deals with the Christmas of the title: The family goes first to church, then to dinner with the grandparents. As is often the case with dysfunctional families, the tension around holiday time is unbearable.

The husband is a philanderer, and currently busy with a new mistress, while his wife maintains a bitter silence. The father ignores his older daughter and despises his son for being effeminate. The younger daughter, recipient of unwanted favoritism from her father, feels responsible for her siblings being unhappy.

During the long, miserable car ride, the parents fight in the front seat while the children (the aforementioned puppets) whine and squabble in the back, until a sudden violent moment that lodges in the memory: an accident in which they are all nearly killed, and which freezes in the minds of the children the painful dynamic of their identities.

Suddenly the scene and time change: it is the present, and the children – Rebecca, Stephen and Claire – are now adults, played by live actors.

It is really the children’s story, and only they have names. The parents are simply “The Man” and “The Woman.”

Each former child is now a prisoner of the past, and reliving the roles they learned within their family. Each craves love but  is caught up in a destructive relationship that can only bring more pain.

Rebecca rejects the man who loves her in favor of a loveless fling with a married man. Claire wrestles with suicidal jealousy over the woman she loves. And Stephen, abandoned by his gay lover, deliberately courts the AIDS virus.

Yet the past holds the possibility of redemption as well. The Christmas sermon of their childhood, delivered by a quirky substitute pastor, dealt with Japanese art and the idea of a “floating world” of beauty, in which sexuality was accepted without guilt, and tolerance and understanding were idealized.

It was this sermon which gave Stephen something to cling to, and which in turn would enable him to bring comfort to his sisters in a mystical and perhaps supernatural way. The ultimate message is one of hope and uplift. It transcends the damage wrought by people who don’t know how to love.

The acting in this production is up to Long Wharf’s traditionally high standards. Timothy Crowe, Anne Scurria (as the parents) Stephen Thorne and Angela Brazil were part of the original cast who premiered the play in Rhode Island. They are joined by Chelsea Altman as Rebecca, and Julio Monge in a tour de force portrayal of the minister, both grandmother, grandfather, and a dream figure (among other parts). Then there are the people who work those delightful puppets, and Sumie Kaneko the samisen player who provides the musical accompaniment.

All told, The Long Christmas Ride Home is a fascinating and absorbing work that is well worth a trip to New Haven, and one that will give you plenty to think and talk about on the way home. Hurry on that trip, however. Performances conclude on Sunday.

(Remaining performances are Friday, February 13, at 8 pm; Saturday, February 14, at 2 and 8 pm; and Sunday, February 15, at 2 and 7 pm.

Tickets range from $38 to $55. Call 203-787-4282 for details.)