Bunraku figures are the "children" in a family on its way to a catastrophic visit with grandparents in Paula Vogel's intriguing "The Long Christmas Ride Home." The puppets' eerily blank faces force spectators to fill in the empty spaces beneath surface sentimentality and politeness. In language veering from elevated to earthbound, the 80-minute, intermissionless play at the Vineyard Theatre explores the shadowy land between past and present, life and death.
Echoing Thornton Wilder, Vogel strips theatre to its essentials. Husband and wife, sitting on chairs to simulate riding in a car, narrate the story in which they are also characters. Their children are puppets manipulated by handlers, six of whom are clad in black per Asian stage techniques. Three are in street clothes; in the repetitious second half, they become the children as tragic grownups, this time with the help of Indonesian shadow puppets.
During the not-too-happy journey, Dad thinks of his mistress, Mom of betrayal. One girl muses on "the turkey in the oven," another on boys, and the boy, guiltily, also on boys. A scene at a Unitarian service (Dad is Jewish, Mom is Catholic) features a minister's sermon on Japanese art and "ukiyo-e" or "floating world," the term that gives the play its style and substance.
Mark Blum and Randy Graff are wonderfully tart as the husband and wife. Catherine Kellner, Enid Graham, and Will McCormack are appealing as the children, while Sean Palmer is impressive in a variety of roles.
The noteworthy Basil Twist conceived and devised the superbly handled puppets. Under the sensitive direction of Mark Brokaw, with sensuous choreography by John Carrafa, and a dream team of designers -- Neil Patel (sets), Mark McCullough (lights), Jess Goldstein (costumes), David Van Tieghem (music and sound), and Jan Hartley (projections) -- this is a stirring evening.