In Home (on Broadway at Roundabout Theater Company’s Todd Haimes Theater) and the Atlantic Theater’s What Became of Us off-Broadway, the protagonists serve double duty as narrators. Both plays deal with returning to your roots after journeys of alienation. These plays’ structure could put audiences at a distance since we are being told what happens instead of being shown directly. Such plays usually work better as novels, but thanks to polished performances and insightful direction, the action is immediate and relatable.
Home by Samm-Art Williams who passed away at 78 just days before previews started for this first Broadway revival, was originally produced by the Negro Ensemble Company off-Broadway in 1979 and transferred to Broadway for a run of 278 performances in 1980, receiving a Tony nomination for Best Play. As he has done with Purlie Victorious and A Soldier’s Play, director Kenny Leon rescues another neglected, vital work of the African-American theatrical canon with a fresh, exciting production.
The main narrator here is Cephus Miles (charismatic and multifaceted Tory Kittles) who relates his adventures from land-loving North Carolina farmer to idealistic conscientious objector to urban drifter to returning to the soil of his home town. All the other roles of both genders are played by the versatile Brittany Inge and Stori Ayers who narrate as well.
Cephus is a spinner of tales, delivered by Kittles with spice and splash, which punctuate Williams’ poetic narrative entertainingly. After being rejected by his first love Patti Mae Wells (a bubbly Inge) and serving five years in prison for refusing to participate in the Vietnam War, Cephus sells his land and moves to NYC with dreams of making it rich. Instead, he encounters discrimination for his criminal record and plunges into a whirlpool of drugs, alcohol, and homelessness. Disillusioned and aged beyond his years, he returns to North Carolina to find redemption amid the simple rural pleasures of farming and family.
Kittles exquisitely charts Cephus’s journey, seamlessly transitioning from enthusiastic, fun-loving young man to shattered, recovering alcoholic. Inge and especially Ayers take on a galaxy of diverse characters, giving each distinct body language, accent and attitude. Ayers’ barroom floozy Nora is especially funny as she quickly flies the scene when Cephus runs out of money.
Leon’s staging is smooth, detailed, and fast without sacrificing depth. All three actors speak Williams’ densely poetic lines rapidly, but every word is intelligible and conveys reams of subtext on the characters, the social and economic background and the setting. Speaking of which, Arnulfo Maldonado’s versatile but suggestive sets along with Allen Lee Hughes’ painterly lighting and Justin Ellington’s evocative sound design, convey the lush bucolic atmosphere of Crossroads, NC and the stark concrete jungle of NYC.
Home is like a filling comfort-food meal, savory and sweet, full of tasty tales and tangy poetry.
