From the title to the sounds of migrating geese heading south for the winter, one expects this play to be about death and renewal. Playwright Bruce Graham doesn’t disappoint, as his moving and poignant The Outgoing Tide traces how one man takes control of his own destiny. That man would be Gunner, a fast-talking, wisecracking man in his early 70s.
As the play opens, he casts a line from his fishing rod into the waters near his Chesapeake Bay cabin. He is pleased with the precision of his cast. He only wishes he could control his life with equal finesse. But those days are gone, at least for Gunner. Suffering from an unnamed type of dementia, he is lucid one minute, and terribly off-kilter the next. As the play opens, Gunner is doing more than trying to catch fish. He is chatting with a younger man, who we assume to be a new resident to the area. Gunner notes with pride that the fishing lasts longer near his cabin than it does elsewhere in the area. Gunner reveals that he once lived in South Philadelphia and ran a trucking company before he retired. It was a tough business; more than once Gunner had to go “toe to toe” with the Teamsters union. It isn’t until Gunner’s wife calls both into the cabin (nicely outfitted by set designer Steve Barnes) that one learns the young man is not a homeowner, but Gunner’s own son. Although Gunner’s wife, Peg (sympathetically played by Susan Sweeney) and son Jack (Simon Jon Provan) have their own standout scenes; this is a star turn for the actor playing Gunner. It’s no wonder that the play’s 2012 Off-Broadway opening starred leading man Peter Strauss (best known for the TV mini-series, “Rich Man, Poor Man,” and more recent appearances in TV dramas like “Law and Order: SVU”). A more recent production by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater starred the late John Mahoney (who played Frasier’s father in the TV series, “Frasier.”) This is an older actor’s dream role, and well-known Milwaukee actor James Pickering makes the most of it. Gunner has been in charge his whole life, not only in the trucking business but personally as well. When a flashback reveals that some teenage sexual play results in Peg’s pregnancy, he calms her fears by saying that he’ll “take care of everything.” This he does, by marrying Peg (“a good Catholic girl”) and saving her from disgrace when Jack is born. This is the best of several flashbacks set throughout the play. Although the flashbacks can legitimately be called the fragments of what Gunner recalls of his fast life, they aren’t delineated enough so that we know what is happening until each brief scene is half over. Peg, meanwhile, has been trying to get Gunner moved to an assisted living apartment, where a staff can assist her in dealing with him. Gunner is way ahead of her; he already has thought of a solution that spares Peg from this burden. And it sure doesn’t include assisted living, which Gunner despises.
Jack, meanwhile, announces that he is right in the middle of a divorce. He had no idea why his father summoned him to the lake cottage. When he finds out, Jack feels ill-equipped to handle yet another emotional situation.
As Jack, Simon Jon Proven has a thankless role. He is constantly being put in the middle, both by his parents and between his wife and her lawyer at home. No wonder Proven has seemingly little reaction to such life-altering news. Gunner wants to solve Jack’s marital problem by offering to meet all his soon-to-be-ex-wife’s demands. However, the deal is only to be offered once. Gunner is confident that she’ll accept the deal, and she does. Gunner, you see, is still in charge.
Jack remains unfocused for most of the play; he can’t bring himself to understand why his wife is divorcing him, nor why his physically able father has an unconventional solution for halting the spread of his disease. Audiences can relate to Gunner’s plight, as well as Peg’s. She has spent her entire life taking care of others. “It’s what I’m good at,” she announces to Jack. One can see that Gunner’s current behavior is taking a toll on her, however. She can be testy and impatient with him. Gunner admits that, of all the people who might see his occasional gaffes, it’s Peg that he’s most concerned about. He wants her to see him as the strong man he once was. Gunner reveals the extent of his estate and encourages Jack to open a restaurant or do whatever he wants to do with the cash. Gunner says the estate will “make up for some stuff,” such as his teasing and bullying a much younger Jack (seen via a flashback).
While The Outside Tide isn’t a perfectly conceived play about old age and how to survive it (or not), it was convincing enough to elicit more than a few sniffles from the audience as the play ends. Pickering and Sweeney are convincing as a lifelong couple who now investigate an uncertain future. That bond alone is reason enough to make The Outgoing Tide a must-see production.
