As Truce opens, Hank tells us that we’re looking at a ghost. He’s not quite dead, though. The history professor has been told that he’s terminally ill, so he gathers his family around him. He already shares his Montana home with his longtime partner Tommy and hostile adult son Jake; his long-absent daughter Lily has recently returned from Vegas with her teenage son Danny, and his dotty neighbor Marge barges in to make inappropriate comments so often that she might as well live there too.
But Hank isn’t stopping there. He wants one more old-fashioned Christmas with his family, so he asks his daughter to get in touch with the long-estranged ex-wife Vera, who understandably left when she found out about Tommy, and ask her to come home. It’s the middle of summer, but Hank is undeterred; he’s even pulled out the decorations. You might say he’s the Ghost of Christmas in July.
Despite Hank’s plea for a truce, familial turbulence ensues in Cody Dull’s comedy-drama, continuing through April 27 at Stage Left Productions, which has carried on at a few different west side venues for 10 years now. The play is overwritten, and could use some significant trimming, and a polish to the dialogue to buff out some cliches – “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” etc. – but it has good bones, a compelling story and strong, playable characters.
The ensemble runs with them. Possibly the strongest is Matt Clarke as the patient but fed-up Tommy. Pat Drapac plays it pretty broadly as Marge, but gooses the show with energy every time she comes on, and as Hank, with his plaintive, Eeyore-like vocal patterns, Robert Peters is endearing.
The production is well-mounted, too. The best scenic element, perhaps, is the woeful, flaccid Christmas tree that Tommy and Danny drag in for Hank. It could make Charlie Brown’s look sprightly by comparison. It’s Hank’s family in metaphor: limp and ragged, but still hopeful and lovable.
Truce plays through Sunday, April 27, at Stage Left Productions, 5930 W. Greenway Rd., Glendale. Call 623-285-6321 or go to stageleftaz.com for details.
