Review gets three out of five stars
Write what you know.
That´s always been the philosophy of A.R. Gurney, the playwright behind such pieces as “Love Letters’ and “The Dining Room.’
His subjects are the WASPs of the Northeast — the family and friends he grew up with — but they could easily be upper-class folk anywhere in the country, even down South.
That is certainly the case with “The Cocktail Hour,’ which runs through Nov. 8 at Birmingham Festival Theatre. Though the artwork on the walls of Mindy Wester´s magnificent living room set evokes the Northern shores, change them to more Southern vistas and it could be mistaken for a house atop Red Mountain.
“The Cocktail Hour,’ directed by John Batson, is a play within a play about a play. John (Douglas O´Neil Jr., in yet another superb performance), a playwright, has come home to get his parents´ permission to write a play about them. It´s called “The Cocktail Hour,’ detailing the conversations, both civil and not-so, that take place when the family gets a bit tipsy before heading to the dining room.
We are watching the play as John talks about it, and it´s a play with a little bit of everything in it — humor, drama and family secrets.
The strong cast is led by O´Neil, nearly always on stage as John. His parents are played by Sam Chalker and Linda Nelson, and his sister, whose main concern about the play is that she has such a minor role in it, is portrayed by Holly Hamm.
All are quite good, but at Saturday´s performance, only O´Neil seemed totally at ease with his lines. The others struggled and lost their way at times, but they were able to recover quickly — it helps that their characters are drinking and probably prone to forgetfulness anyway.
“The Cocktail Hour’ isn´t Gurney´s best work, but it´s certainly among his most personal. That we´re invited into his family´s living room is a treat indeed.
© 2009 Alabama Live LLC.