Going to the Theatre

My wife and I have two tickets to see "Skylight" at the Merrimack Repertory Theater (MRT) this coming week. They are part of our subscription for the season. Unfortunately we are tied up that night. We could pick a different night, but then we though about people who were going to be here and might enjoy a night at the theater. What a nice gift. But, we thought to check on the play and what it was about.

Wikipedia tells us:

East London school teacher Kyra Hollis is visited on the same night by son and father Edward and Tom Sargeant. Kyra had been living with the Sargeant family years earlier, but left after her affair with Tom was discovered by Tom's wife, who has since passed. Edward accuses Kyra of having left him as well, as he saw her as a big sister. His real older sister having left the house, he is now alone with his father, whom he finds difficult to deal with. Kyra gets angry with him and he leaves, not without asking her what she misses most about his father. Her response is: a good breakfast. Shortly thereafter, Tom, a wealthy restaurateur, with real life references to Terence Conran, appears unheralded and for no apparent reason. Kyra's less than glamorous lifestyle leads him to poke fun at her to the point of insult, accusing her of self-punishment. After Kyra cooks a spaghetti-dinner (which the actress actually cooks on stage), they consummate their relationship once again. During the second act, it becomes clear that their lifestyles and political views are so vastly different that they cannot possibly rekindle their relationship, and Tom leaves. A few hours later, at the break of dawn, Edward reappears with a full breakfast, which he has "borrowed" from a posh hotel.

Is this the kind of play we would recommend to someone?

Not likely. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the first show of the season, "The Fantasticks." The MRT Blurb is:

The world’s longest running musical, The Fantasticks is irresistible with its universal, timeless story and memorable score. Filled with youthful innocence, a boy falls for the girl next door in a rebellious romance until he learns that he may have been deceived. The young lovers part and set out to test the world and all it has to offer. A comedic story of first love, lost love and eventually true love, it will capture your heart with its beloved hit songs “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain.”

And I love the song "Try to Remember."

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Unlike with "The Fantastics." the three characters in "Skylight" seem like people who recognize no boundaries. None. Here is the woman who came between a husband and a wife and is visited by the son of that marriage. While it might be the son seeing the school teacher as a substitute for his sister, the Father showing up and reliving the old fling is not good. But, then the son returns the next morning--looking for what?

While this trio represents a sick relationship, I don't see anything redeeming in the exploration of those boundaryless relationships. Boundaries are one of those things that allows us to keep families and communities together. Boundaries mean that expectations of commitment are met, more or less, and that we can count on those commitments or at least fudge them into a semblance of a working set of relationships. This trio just seems to go by a "whatever feels good" approach to life. Chaos lies that way.

Needless to say, we will not be offering up those tickets to any of our visitors. So, if anyone is looking for two tickets, let me know.

Regards -- Cliff