Lunastage - 2006 - 2007 Season - The Kreutzer Sonata

Fraternity row
Oarsmen in drama grapple with bonds of affection

Tuesday, February 06, 2007
BY PETER FILICHIA Star-Ledger Staff
NEW JERSEY STAGE

If "Honor and the River" were to move from Montclair to Manhattan, Andy Phelan just might become a much-awarded theatrical star. He's that exceptional in Anton Dudley's solid new play at Luna Stage Company.

Phelan is the main reason why it's the sleeper hit of the season. The young actor hasn't been handed an easy challenge. He's portrays Eliot, the type of teenager whose favorite pet is a turtle, not a dog. The shy, unathletic lad is certainly not one of the popular students at Masterson Academy. When asked if he belongs to a social circle, he mutters, "A half-crescent at best."

Phelan plays the role with sensitivity, yet never emerges as effeminate. His slight smile betrays his nervousness, but shows a sense of wonder, too. When he turns to the audience to narrate the action, he speaks in a way that never begs for sympathy.

As a result, he gets plenty of it from the crowd.

To change his status, Eliot joins the rowing team -- surprising, because he doesn't know how to swim and wasn't inclined to learn, even before his father drowned. Here, too, Phelan scores as a teen who yearns terribly for his father, but is trying to be brave -- and "masculine" -- about it.

Eliot's reason for choosing rowing could be a handsome, rugged teammate, atypically named Honor. Says Eliot, wistfully, "Honor is the type of kid who gets everything he asks for." How Eliot wishes Honor would want him, too.

Honor will get what he wants from Eliot -- and by dishonorable means. How this impacts Eliot's mother and Honor's father, who are romantically intertwined, complicates matters.

There has been no shortage of plays about the gay yearnings of youth. Dudley's drama, though, avoids the maudlin and contains some beautiful poetic imagery. That alone would separate it from the pack. Nancy Robillard's excellent direction, which creates a haunting mood, helps immeasurably.

David Michael Holmes is excellent as Honor, the arms-crossed, annoyed brute who spends a good deal of time squinting in disapproval at Eliot's "strangeness." Holmes' smile is a bit crooked, revealing something between mischievous and sardonic.

Reathel Bean plays Honor's father with a charming crustiness. Carolyn Popp captures the delightful cluelessness but well-meaning qualities of Eliot's mom. Along the way, she gets the chance to center herself and become intent on finding personal happiness; Popp makes the transition with ease.

The playwright did some work for set designer Robert Monaco by describing the look of the show in his stage directions. Dudley decided a racing shell should be hung from the rafters by thick rope and could be lowered halfway between ceiling and stage. Then the boys would climb in and row (albeit without oars), moving the floating shell back and forth in a simulation of a crew racing.

Even though the playwright carefully envisioned his show, he couldn't have imagined that someone as perfect as Andy Phelan would play Eliot.

Peter Filichia may be reached at pfilichia@starledger.com or (973) 392-5995.

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