Center Stage at Jewish Community
Center has mounted a first-class revival of Israel Horovitz’s popular,
appealing play, Park
Your Car In Harvard Yard. An elegantly
composed interplay for two actors, it is both heartwarming and funny.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Horovitz is one of our most prolific
playwrights, a fact that dissuades me from trying to sound like an expert.
About 30 years ago, theater expert John Lahr gave a lecture at SUNY Geneseo on
new voices in American drama, all of them African American, and the most
important Ed Bullins.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย When I asked him about Israel
Horovitz, Lahr responded that I shouldn’t bluff because Horovitz was no longer
writing plays. Horovitz’s response, when I met him at the premiere of one of
his four new plays the next season, was unprintable. But his best response is
the more than 30 plays he’s created since, including this one almost 20 years
later.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The setup is simple; the plot gets
complex. In East Gloucester, Massachusetts, Jacob Brackish, an irascible, retired teacher, is required by failing
health to employ a housekeeper in order to continue living alone in his house.
Kathleen, the young widow who takes the job, turns out to be a former student
whose late husband as well as her father and mother and several siblings and
friends were all failed by Brackish in his English or music appreciation
courses.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A revenge plot? No, it’s funnier and
more humane than that. The amusingly named Brackish is, in fact, a much more
complicated part of Kathleen’s life, and both have their secrets. The changing
nature and tone of their relationship develops, like one of the pieces that
Brackish plays on his radio, into a rich, pleasing duet.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย By the way, I didn’t find a program
credit on the music played, but it has become a standard in-joke to play a
Beastie Boys number when Kathleen changes the classical music station to annoy
Brackish with loud rock wildness. Adam Horovitz, the Beastie Boys’ guitarist,
is the playwright’s son.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The title refers to the
stereotypical Boston accent, which pronounces none of its six R’s. Kerry
Young’s more precisely accurate rural Massachusetts accent perfectly punctuates
her dry, comic performance as a resentful, plebeian woman with unexpected
mental agility and articulate anger. She builds Kathleen’s character-growth
with appealing skill.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Fred Nuernberg adopts a differently
dry tone of voice, more nasal than his usual classical delivery, for Brackish.
Elderly, overeducated (a doctorate to teach high school), and Jewish as well as
Harvard-educated, his New England speech necessarily has a more complicated
sound. I don’t think the role as tricky as hers, but Nuernberg inhabits it
totally and naturally. And they play together like a longstanding artistic
team.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Sets, costumes, lighting, and other
production details are all nicely handled. But the really impressive work in
this wholly enjoyable production is David Runzo’s impeccable direction and the
admirable interaction of the two actors.
Park Your Car In
Harvard Yard by Israel Horovitz,
directed by David Runzo, plays at JCC Center Stage, 1200 Edgewood Avenue,
Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 15.
Tix: $20 to $22. 461-2000, ext. 235.
Theater note
After this show, you might check out
a less well wrought, but showier tour-de-force at Buffalo’s Studio Arena
Theatre. Stones In His Pocketsby
Marie Jones often has 12 characters onstage at once — English, Irish,
Americans, men, women, and children — all played by two virtuoso actors.
800-77-STAGE.
This article appears in May 5-11, 2004.
