The sins of the fathers are visited on the children" is the theme of The Little Flower of East Orange, Stephen Adly Guirgis' powerful family drama now in its West Coast premiere at the Lillian Theatre.
Therese Marie (the remarkable Melanie Jones), was brutally abused by her father yet insisted that he had good qualities. Her love-hate feelings were absorbed by her children, Danny (Michael Friedman) and Justina (Marisa O'Brien), who remain forever in the grip of those clashing emotions.
Flower opens with a monologue by Danny, a once-promising novelist now battling demon rum (and drugs) as he tries to make sense of his ruined life (Friedman is riveting in the role). Then the play's focus shifts to a New York city hospital ward where the badly-injured Therese lies in bed, refusing to identify herself to the nurses (Leshay Tomlinson Boyse, Alex Furth) who are desperately trying to keep her alive (unlike the callously indifferent doctor, Mark Adair-Rios).
Thanks to the intervention of a compassionate detective (Kim Estes), Therese finally reveals her identity. Armed with this information, the detective is able to track down her children. Danny, who's been in an Arizona rehab clinic, hitch-hikes east with his ditzy girlfriend Nadine (Kate Huffman); Justina, a rusque, polished businesswoman wings in from Chicago.
What follows is essentially a succession of confrontation scenes in which the play's theme is repeatedly explored by the playwright. Danny and Justina not only have conflicted feelings about their mother, but about each other. Trading insults and expletives, shouting and snarling, the three of them approach the breaking point, only to suddenly back off and fling their arms around each other. As families go, this one is a doozy -- yet it somehow manages to hang together.
At the heart of the drama are Therese and Danny -- a maddening yet sweet-natured mother vs. an angry yet caring son. Their no-holds-barred battles could have been unpleasant to sit through, but thanks to the remarkable performances by Jones and Friedman The Little Flower of East Orange catches you up in its intensity and keeps you involved from beginning to end. The other performances are equally praiseworthy, as is the finely calibrated direction by David Fofi.
