There’s no hiding greed or pettiness from family.
Politeness, tact and other disguises can quickly evaporate around brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and even in-laws. Planning a funeral or battling over an inheritance with relatives can be the truest test of character and the most reliable measurement of motives. That brand of stark and unsettling honesty drives all of the darkness in Horton Foote’s dark comedy “Dividing the Estate” currently running at the Arvada Center.
The humor in this show about property values, inheritances and probate court comes in the everyday struggles of some fairly unremarkable characters from the rural stretches of Texas. Foote’s comedy isn’t for fans of farce or slapstick. The laughs here come in petty squabbles between brothers and sisters. They arrive amid themes of death, weariness and destitution. The playwright weaves his humor into fights about taxes and arguments over funerals, and the setting feels downright unremarkable.
Foote, who was in his early 90s when the play premiered in New Jersey, takes his cues from the slow action and subtle conflict of playwrights like Anton Chekhov. There’s not a lot of flash here, but that’s not to say the Arvada Center crew doesn’t do their job. Director A. Lee Massaro and a strong cast convey Foote’s measured approach well. The show features multiple standout performances, and the cast has mastered the kind of tricky timing and difficult delivery that’s necessary in conveying Foote’s understated brand of humor. The pace of the show is measured; the performances are subtle; and the final resolution lacks any forced happiness or optimism of a Hollywood ending.
In other words, the production stays true to the spirit of Foote’s sardonic look at a Texas clan in the 1980s. But there’s a drawback to that fidelity. The spirit of the show can feel oppressive and more than a little depressing. For those who prefer escape and catharsis in their theater, there’s not a lot of deliverance in the drawn-out battles over inheritance and shared worries over falling property values and oil leases. This is a show that revels in the humdrum pitfalls of modern family.
The story focuses on a family estate in the small town of Harrison, Texas in 1987, and all the human drama that comes with it. The Gordon family, led by the stubborn and fiery matriarch Stella (played with an understated fierceness by Anne Oberbroeckling), disagree about the future of the house, the land and the assets. Stella, who is in her 80s, wants to keep the estate intact after her death, but her children and grandchildren aren’t all on the same page.
Her grandson Son (Leigh Nichols Miller) and her daughter Lucille (Rachel Fowler) live and work on the estate; they’re in favor of keeping it intact. Stella’s alcoholic son Lewis (Mark Rubald) has incurred a debt of tens of thousands of dollars borrowing off the estate, as has her daughter Mary Jo (Sharon Kay White). Mary Jo and her husband Bob (Michael McNeil) scheme to divide the estate and suck out more money to deal with their mounting debt.
All of this family drama unfolds in the shadow of another era. Some of the show’s most darkly humorous moments come in the interactions between the Gordon family and their crew of black servants. The elderly servant Doug (Russell Costen) and the two kitchen servers Mildred (Ghandia Johnson) and Cathleen (Kristen Adele) represent three generations of hired help. Their commentary and observations on the plights and struggles of the Gordon family are some of the show’s most honest moments; their perspective serves the same purpose as the Fool in any number of Shakespearean dramas.
The back-and-forth between all of these characters is carefully studied and well-honed. Massaro and the cast find the heart of Foote’s story, and that core is never glitzy or glamorous. The themes about family and fidelity come amid legal talk, death and depression, and it’s hard not to feel weighed down by that darkness.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at 720-449-9707 or agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com
“Dividing the Estate”
Runs until May 26 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd.
Tickets start at $38.
Information: 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org.