I need to strip down to essentials, Frank Lloyd Wright declares as he watches the schoolhouse near his Hollyhock House being finished. Back from Tokyo with his Imperial House threatened by storms and without further work, he's in Hollywood's Olive Hill, contemplating a life change. He'll re-establish family connections with daughter Catherine and son Lloyd, while divorcing their mother and ridding himself (though she doesn't yet know it) of his alcohol and drug- addicted mistress Miriam. He has drawn a building he calls home, unlike the many homes he's designed "that turn into houses." He's even invited former mentor and great designer Louis Sullivan, ostensibly to join him in art but possibly just to bolster his aesthetic views.
In his pontifical chair on prairie-wide ground, Wright flirts with a young school teacher, bosses a devoted student, and deprecates his son's designing epic movie sets like an Egytian one decaying in the distance. No wonder neither his daughter or son is willing easily to make amends. When news comes of hurricanes devastating Japan, will the loss of the Imperial Hotel mean the end of Wright's reputation and career?
Strangely, author Richard Nelson -- who seems to be aiming for a Brechtian esthetic and minimalist plot -- pivots his play into a domestic drama which takes too long to get nowhere for everyone except Wright. And this self-absorbed leading character just ends up back where he was. Artistically unchanged. Without a home.The crisis is solved before coming to a head. The family relationships end as Chekhovian-comedic, while Wright's acceptance of Miriam seems as melodramatically unlikely as her cheery comeback after a drunken rage.
When the raked stage flattens, it's emblematic. So is the floor of sand-like shavings.
Under Robert Falls' direction, pacing is slow but positioning of characters quickly establishes relationships, always with Wright's centrality. Peter Weller takes command, especially as Wright insists beauty is all. Jay Whittaker brings out all son Lloyd's resentment, his insistence on the importance of leaky roofs, yet his pleasure when his father recognizes Lloyd's draftsmanship. Maggie Sift believably shifts from resentment to admiration of her father. She doesn't seem to realize how much fun he makes of attempts by her and her husband (bright Chris Coffey) to give Wright work. Strong as a sarcastic mistress, Mary Beth Fisher transitions well to a raging drunk-druggie and then, better than the script warrants, a happy prospective bride.
As pretty teacher Helen Girvin, Holley Fain convinces she's flattered but just bright enough not to keep drawing Wright's attentions. Of the role of Wright's devoted "nothing" assistant William, Jeremy Strong makes something unusual: a character devoid of self, noteworthy for not being so. Most unforgettable, Harris Yulin centers every scene the crumpled, down-and-out Louis Sullivan is in. Whether emptying his flask or proclaiming "my hands don't shake when I draw" or smiling warmly at Catherine or giving Wright authority by listening, Yulin could not be better. One might wish the play were about his Sullivan. And, without an intermission, not as long.
