For someone who might have been the American Ibsen, James A. Herne has languished in obscurity long enough — since just a few years after his death in 1901. Reason enough for this revival by a company dedicated to the living examination of American theatre history. But director Alex Roe and his committed cast have gone far beyond mounting a museum piece. Their production of this 1890 play, arguably at the beginning of realism in American drama, does justice both to its watershed period and to a contemporary audience.
The play's themes of female independence, social hypocrisy, and the mistreatment of the poor and immigrants were revolutionary in their day and are still relevant. Margaret Fleming (played by the luminous Margaret Loesser Robinson) is a young, small-town Massachusetts wife and new mother married to the local mill owner. She accidentally discovers that he has had a liaison with — and a child by — one of his workers. Margaret's responses to the situation, and those of her circle, seemed shocking at the time; they were hailed by critics as a welcome new kind of truth in theatre but shunned by audiences used to the prevailing melodrama. Only the heroine's sudden blindness brought on by stress seems a convenient, unrealistic, and unnecessary throwback to the type of theatre Herne and his contemporaries had previously plied with great success.
Other acting standouts include Peter Judd as the too-upright family doctor, and Teresa Kelsey as the Flemings' conflicted German housekeeper. Sidney Fortner (who also plays three small roles) designed the credible period costumes. The 1890 set (by Roe), complete with rainmaker (by Alexander Senchak), further roots Herne's play in its time and mood, enabling it to speak to the ages.
Presented by and at the Metropolitan Playhouse,
220 E. Fourth St., NYC.
Sept. 28-Oct. 21. Thu.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.
(212) 995-5302 or www.metropolitanplayhouse.org.