THE STORY: At seventeen, Alan visits the California home of his father and his father’s former mistress turned wife. His father’s life now centers around his two young sons, a tiresome job at an aircraft plant, and two teenage girls who are boarded with the family by the state. Alan has come expecting to go to school full time and work part time at the plant, having accepted his father’s encouragement to do so. But the older man is incapable of honesty, least of all emotional honesty, and his lies about school are worth about as much as his lies about love. In the end, his cruelty, insecurity and lechery bring on an inevitable collision that destroys all that the father and son had hoped for. Alan is driven away once more, embittered by the knowledge that he must live without the father he so desperately wants and needs.
This powerful and moving play explores the alienation between a son and his father with rare perception and honesty.
“…Mr. Wilson can write; his characters spring alive on stage; he holds our attention, he engages our heart.” —The New York Times.
“…Wilson at his loveliest and most true. He is one of the very most talented writers in all the American theatre…” —Women’s Wear Daily.
“His language is rich and forceful, yet conveys a sense of graceful ease and breezy humor.” —Cue Magazine.
