Drama has long been a vehicle that puts difficult issues into an accessible form and allows audiences to relate to the suffering of others. The uncomfortable and sometimes terrible themes that permeate daily life can be hard to face head on. The latest Pepperdine theater production “The Roads to Home” by Horton Foote ran from Tuesday Jan. 27 to Saturday Jan. 31 and indicated these pitfalls all too clearly.
The small cast and close venue in Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre lent a deeper sense of intimacy to the production and by the end of the night the audience almost looked at the characters as their friends.
“The Roads To Home” is actually a series of three one-act plays that are held together by the same characters said junior Krista Taylor, who played the character of Mabel Votaugh in the play. Mabel is one of the three women whose story the play follows.
Mabel and her husband Jack are next-door neighbors and friends with another couple, the Hayhursts, who deal with issues of love and infidelity later in the play. Mabel and Jack’s marriage suffers from lack of real communication and care.
The three one-act plays deal with these two storylines along with that of Annie Gale Long, a young woman who is dealing with a mental illness due to a long list of unsettling factors such as her father’s death. The combination of these three acts form the play, which was split into two separate acts in this production. The six-person cast featured two character changes for two of the actors, so eight characters all together were portrayed in the work.
The first act focused mainly on introducing these characters, while the second act dealt with the aftermath of Anne’s illness, which consists of a stay in an asylum of the 1920s.
The play was performed with a unique set; the stage was in the middle of the theatre, with chairs surrounding three sides. The main setting was the Votaugh dining room, which was turned into the mental asylum for the second act. Instead of curtains, the backdrop was comprised of sand-colored pillars that were interspersed with black-and-white photographs from the period.
Other details included a working vintage gramophone, an authentic 1920s telephone and charming period costumes. These careful touches brought the play to life in an effective way, as did the nearly perfect southern accents all the performers assumed for their characters.
The show was directed by Scott Alan Smith, who has extensive background in theatre and appeared in a variety of prime-time shows including Entourage CSI: NY” and “Prison Break.” He also played roles in such theatrical productions as “Richard III Apollo” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” However this play marked the first time in his career as a director.
Aside from dealing with the grim topic of mental illness and marital infidelity the play also touches on the issue of the search for a true home. Annie’s obsession with her past when she was living in Harrison Ky. is what finally drives her insane. She becomes completely disconnected from the present.
Senior Drew Allen who plays Annie’s husband Mr. Long said he learned an immense amount from the production process and from Smith as a director.
“It’s really great to have someone like him brought in that is willing to direct a show here because it gives you an opportunity to see what acting will be like after school is over Allen said.
Although Mr. Long only makes a brief appearance in the first half of the show, his character offers a tremendous amount of insight into Annie’s excruciating situation.
His story is really heart-wrenching Allen said. He’s a man faced with painful circumstances and has to make an impossible decision. I’ve sort of fallen in love with the character and his story which I think is necessary to be a good story-teller.”
Though Lindhurst is a small theatre every seat was filled on closing night. This signifies that though it was a small cast dealing with a shorter story line “The Roads to Home” made a big impression on the Malibu audience.