In ‘Mr. Parker’, Getting on With Life as You Don’t Know It

Derek Smith is the title character in “Mr. Parker,” a middle-aged gay man who must find a way to move forward in a strange world after the death of his husband. Photos by John Quilty.

By MARI S. GOLD

“MR. Parker” offers what at first seems like a collection of clichés but thankfully switches course to provide insight into what resilience is all about.

At Theatre Row by way of the Penguin Rep Theater until June 25, the work reveals a middle-aged gay man who finds himself adrift after the death of his artist husband, a sexy young gender non-conforming man picked up in a bar and the stylish, powerful sister of the artist. The three play effectively off of one another.

Terry Parker (Derek Smith) grapples with his loss. No longer part of the Jeff and Terry couple, he has been reduced simply to Mr. Parker by the doorman of his upscale building. Stuck and unable to move ahead, he clings to the studio emptied by the loss of his husband until a chance encounter with Justin, a bartender/Uber driver (Davi Santos), leads to a change of outlook.

The situation is both hindered and helped by Cassandra, the artist’s sister (Mia Matthews) who has managed her brother’s work and, to some extent, his and Terry’s lives. Taut, controlling Cassandra recognizes that the Justin-Terry relationship won’t benefit either man and gives it a painful, if necessary, push.

All three actors inhabit their roles with naturalness of voice, gesture and meaning. Writer Michael McKeever could have developed just as successful a script had he eliminated a little of Justin’s backstory, but overall the situation works. The world has moved on and so must these characters with a nod to cell phones, today’s gender pronouns and contemporary art.

Things heat up quickly after a chance meeting between Terry (Derek Smith) and Justin (Davi Santos) in “Mr Parker.”

Costumes by Myra Oney are particularly effective on Cassandra whose role provides the greatest opportunity to make a fashion statement. Max Silverman’s music separates elements well without overtaking them; Joe Brancato’s direction keeps sufficient tension in the air to allow the actors the scope they need to work.

Penguin Rep Theater, where “Mr. Parker” originated, has grown over 40 years from a summer theater to become one of the Hudson Valley’s most influential nonprofit cultural institutions, reaching tens of thousands of theatergoers each year at its home in upstate New York.

In New York City and beyond, its work moves to off-Broadway and to stages across the country and around the world. Penguin has presented works by playwrights, including Ronald Harwood, Arthur Laurents, Lanie Robertson and Elizabeth Swados. Andrew M. Horn, producer and executive director, has overseen nearly 200 productions for the group.

In “Mr Parker,” Justin (Davi Santos) and Terry (Derek Smith) begin a relationship that is doomed to fail and it is left to Cassandra (Mia Matthews) to sort it all out.

“Mr. Parker” isn’t grand drama but it deals head on with major life situations, including sexuality, power and loss. The story is almost entirely believable and presented by skilled actors who fully inhabit their roles. Moving on is tough but is a necessary part of life.

Visit https://bfany.org/theatre-row/shows/mr-parker/ to learn more about Mr. Parker.

'Blood From a Stone' Gushes Family Dysfunction

Gordon Clapp, Ethan Hawke and Ann Dowd are members of an unhappy family in "Blood From a Stone." Photos by Monique Carboni.

BY TAMARA BECK

TOMMY Nohilly picks up Eugene O’Neill’s mantle as the great American playwright of domestic dysfunction with “Blood from a Stone.”

It is his first play and it gets top-notch treatment by The New Group in its premiere at Theatre Row under Scott Elliott’s steady direction. The production is in a limited but extended run through 19 Feb.

The play opens on the disheveled main floor of a working-class Connecticut home with Travis (Ethan Hawke) and his mother, Margaret (Ann Dowd), folding laundry and grousing about Travis’ father, Bill (Gordon Clapp). Margaret points out the broken thermostat, among other things. Bill, she informs Travis, won’t fix the roof to prevent the leak in the kitchen. These oversights and the prevailing rage in this household can be very dangerous.

Daphne Rubin-Vega and Ethan Hawke as lovers in "Blood From a Stone."

Though his family is unawares, Travis has come home to say goodbye. His perpetual wanderlust is taking him West. EH, best known as a film actor, is phenomenal as the son who almost got away – the outsider drawn back into the maelstrom. Travis seems even-tempered and sensible, yet he has his issues. He pops his mother’s painkillers, is having an affair with a former girlfriend (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and can’t keep a job. On this trip he’s taking gifts of cash from his mother and younger sister, Sarah (Natasha Lyonne).

When Bill returns home from work he pours himself and Travis a glass of milk and reminisces about taking the kids to a diner in the Bronx when they were little. His son, though, resists this attempt at closeness. Travis is a mama’s boy and the oldest of three children.

The youngest Matt (Thomas Guiry) seems most scarred by the bitterness in the household. TG is at once cocky, smarmy and needy. Matt doesn’t just take from his family like his big brother, he steals. His mother doesn’t like him to be alone upstairs with her stuff, she says.

AD’s Margaret is a loving mother but is extremely manipulative. She has succeeded in dividing her children’s loyalties much in the same way that she and Bill have divided their house.

Gordon Clapp and Ethan Hawke as a father and son who have a failure to communicate in "Blood From a Stone."

For his part, Bill is out of touch with his family and even his own feelings. He and Margaret live separate lives in the same house, separated by a long history of anger, distrust, and miscommunication. She curses him savagely even when he ineffectually tries to fix some of what is broken. GC, best known as a TV actor, subtly unveils the ordinary humanity under all of Bill's pent-up and intense brutality. “Blood from a Stone” is in part about this slow burn and the toll it takes on the whole family.

The growing squalor of the surroundings in “Blood from a Stone” mimics the family’s turmoil. The action moves at a deliberate pace. It rises to a crescendo of violence and threat, revealing its characters’ terrifying problems in small and intimate ways.

“Blood from a Stone” is a humble, eloquent and elegant work of art.

Visit http://www.thenewgroup.org/ to learn more about “Blood from a Stone.”