Heritage
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The fate of these two plays says a lot about the American taste for fake serious theater, the kind that renders a social problem marketable–and inconsequential–by dividing it into entertaining rights and wrongs. Neveu, a well-respected young playwright who wrote Heritage after receiving the Goodman’s Ofner Prize in 2003, does the opposite, whirling thorny issues into such ethical messes it becomes impossible to know where one’s sympathies should lie. He instigates this chaos in part through indirect, seemingly mundane dialogue, forcing actors to think through their lines rather than emote and requiring audiences to consider questions rather than merely consume answers.
As usual it falls to the smaller companies to foster excellent local writers. Two years ago the American Theater Company forged a fruitful relationship with Neveu and his frequent director Edward Sobel when they teamed up on an acclaimed production of American Dead, about an unsolved murder in a small, dying midwestern town. There the performances were too broad and obvious, but Sobel has reined in his actors for ATC’s world premiere of Heritage, conveying almost as much volatility and tension as Neveu’s harrowing script. Though it has major weaknesses, Neveu’s vision makes for a rich evening of theater.
Neveu taps into the kind of gut-level, soul-corroding trauma beyond the grasp of reason and intelligibility. As a result Heritage won’t make anyone rich, but it might well enrich those who see it.
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