Lora Lee Ecobelli as Nettie Cleary, Caleb John Cushingn as Timmy Cleary;

Photo: John Sowle

For this very fine production at Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill, NY three professionals have been guided by excellent director Flo Hayle into these roles. The combination of directorial savvy and acting talent has given us a great opportunity to be those unseen witnesses to how these three people in their three relationships take on the situations that reinforce who they are, who they were, and simultaneously upset their visions of the future.

Lora Lee Ecobelli plays Nettie with honesty and simplicity and has some of the most devastating moments on this stage. She lives through a near-rape moment and the equally difficult moments of motherly generosity shoved aside. She is danced around her living room with complete simplicity and plays through the public delight of the same well off-stage. Her every word celebrates love and misery and her face and body reflect her internalized reactions to what she experiences and witnesses. This is a beautifully balanced performance that shakes the walls of this theater. 

At the other end of the interpretive spectrum Ron Komora as her husband plays the worst side of a human being whose selfishness threatens to bring the walls down on all three of them at any moment. He himself, John Cleary that is, has lived a life that has never satisfied him. A coffee merchant (like the author's own father) who lost his best chance for major success when his wife refused to live with him in Brazil, he has been a suffered man, a man rejected but tolerated by his "foreign" wife (she is not Irish), he crashes through life, taking a prostitute now and then, demanding meals on time and attention to his decisions in life. Komora's blustery, decisive and ill-mannered John Cleary paints an honest picture of how a man like this can live, love and tolerate the results of his actions. It's a very strong performance, unrolling the cues to a selfish disposition one layer at a time, never rushing but simply revealing the contents of a narriw-visioned man.

As their son, whose three years in the army have given him both judgement and insight, Caleb John Cushing balances humor, honesty and antagonism with the deft handiwork of a terrific actor. This is a charming fellow, this actor, who understands how manipulation works and he employs the art while painting us a still-point portrait of a young man emerging from a youth who was never expected to grow up. Cushing is an actor I hope to see much more of in the years to come.