Tynan's Anger

Preserving the American Family, with More Compassion than Conservatism

When I saw Stain last year, Tony Glazer struck me as a playwright with a remarkable voice in terms of dialogue and scope, but one who took a particularly repulsive view of his characters and social dynamics. A year later, desperate for drama that invoked the same reaction, I found myself watching his follow-up, In the Daylight. Not only did In The Daylight confirmed my suspicions that Glazer was a playwright of remarkable skill, but also let me see what has to be the best new play of the year, one that's as invigorating to the American stage as August: Osage County, but perhaps even more vital.

Quite simply, In the Daylight exposes a timely strain of white suburban angst as it tries to find a place in an America that's turning away from that direction. It's easy to see a more misguided neighbor of the Feingold household taking the streets in a teabag riot. Martin Feingold (Joseph Urla, from Seinfeld and The Wire), a writer straight from Oprah's book club with a cryptically semi-autobiographical novel, has taken his much feared homecoming trip to deal with his father's ashes, 6 years after his father's death. Something is clearly amiss, and it's more than his mother's health.

What follows is an unremitting family drama full of suspense, terror and remarkable vision. While Glazer pulls no punches in In the Daylight, what makes the play truly extraordinary is the compassion that Glazer finds constantly throughout the play's two hours. On the one hand, the terrors of a dominant white patriarchal household are fully acknowledged, as the terrifying flashback with Martin's father (Jay Patterson) demonstrates. At least on a personal level, Marty, the play's primary masculine voice is no misogynist, despite his passing jokes to the contrary.

The Feingold father spends the rest of the play haunting the family, as the full details of his death are reckoned with despite Martin's desperate attempt to disown his past life. Martin's sister Jessica (Sharon Maguire) and mother Elizabeth (Concetta Thomei), are ruthless in behavior and motivation, but their ruthlessness is more out of a devotion to persevere than out of a desire to torment. Family loyalties are the consistent thread which unites the Feingold's despite the intrusion of a potentially dangerous outsider (Ashley Austin Morris's "Charlotte"). The Feingold family is as volatile and emblematic of its times as any in classic American drama, but Glazer's knack for dialogue and contained scope means he never has to resort to excessive melodrama.

All the elements that drew me to Stain present, but Glazer's, writing has tightened and improved on just about every level. In the Daylight's premise and execution are carefully and cleverly carried out, and the plays;s consistently entertaining streak makes it no less exciting to those who would rather go to the theater for pure escapism. Glazer's script is also aided by a uniformly excellent production,  including the direction of John Gould Rubin, a fantastic abstract technical design, and a cast of disciplined New York veterans fully committed to the project. Glazer takes some considerable risks with the plot twists of the play's second act, but he backs them up with both discipline as a playwright and proper respect for his characters and the audience. The plays closing image, recalling "American Gothic," is among the most affecting I've ever witnessed.
Ever since Obama was elected President, I have been looking for an explanation for the backlash he has received, something "reasonable" conservatives like David Brooks or Ross Douthat have not been able to provide. By reducing larger cultural themes to an individual family, Glazer has provided an empathetic meditation on what was lost when America devalued the role of the nuclear family and community, one that does not need to rely on intellect to justify its underlying beliefs. Glazer is something of a traditionalist, but he's neither anti-intellectual nor a zealot, which will no doubt confuse those Americans who don't know of any other kind of traditionalist. Nonetheless, the uproarious ovation the play received on opening night in the Upper West Side is indicative of just how transcendent this play could be.

In The Daylight uses the theater's unique ability to combine remarkable intellect with genuine emotion, without the pressures of a more commercial medium. In The Daylight invokes a chilling view of American life in the tradition of Shephard, Mamet, and LaBute, but with the distinctly contemporary perspective of a younger playwright entering his prime. I can't recommend it highly enough.

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In the Daylight, by Tony Glazer. Directed by John Gould Rubin; scenic design by Christopher Barreca; costume design by Andreea Mincic; lighting design by Thom Weaver; sound design by Elizabeth Rhodes. Photo by Gili Getz.

Starring Sharon Maguire (Jessica Feingold), Ashley Austin Morris (Charlotte Fontaine), Jay Patterson (Dr. William Feingold), Concetta Thomei (Elizabeth Feingold), and Joseph Urla (Martin Feingold).

Performances will run through October 11th, 2009 at the McGinn Cazale Theatre (2162 Broadway, 4th floor at 76th Street). Tickets are $35 ($30 during previews) for tickets visit www.vitaltheatre.org or call 212.579.0528.

Labels: 2009-2010, in the daylight, new york, stain, theater review, tony glazer