Howard’s End, a novel written by E.M. Forster in 1910, has been turned inside-out and shaken to produce The Inheritance. It’s a thought experiment which poses the question: If E.M. Forster hadn’t been a closeted gay man all his life, but instead owned his queerness, would he produce a work like this one?
Well, let’s find out! Forster is written into the play as a highly metaphoric device, acting both as sounding board and narrator of the action. He scribbles in a little notebook as if rewriting the book in real time. It provides both a level of abstraction and a source of clever commentary on the bevy of self-absorbed twenty-somethings we’re watching.
The Inheritance transforms the three straight couples in the novel to gay men, then transports them to the twenty-first century. The result is a play full of empathy, humor and human foibles; it’s one of the best I’ve seen at Round House. The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, the dialog is snappy, and the plot moves right along – so well paced that you almost don’t mind the length (over three hours!) – and that’s just Part One.
In conversation with an usher, when I mentioned the play’s unusual length, she said, “Think of it as the whole series of episodes in two parts,” and yes, it does resemble a limited series on, say, Masterpiece Theatre, being performed right there in front of you.
The action begins in 2015, when gay marriage becomes legal and optimism for the acceptance of queerness as a natural part of American society is abounding. The characters are haunted by the possibility of losing the specialness of gay culture to mainstream acceptance; but then the election of 2016 rolls around to put paid to that! We live through the AIDS epidemic in a five-minute flashback just before the first intermission. It will return to haunt us at the play’s conclusion and provide a dramatic final curtain.
Our lead couple are Eric Glass (David Gow), a sweet guy in love with Toby Darling (Adam Poss), who returns Eric’s affection but also lives with his eye to the main chance. Eric’s rent-controlled Manhattan apartment almost functions as another main character, especially when Eric learns that he is being evicted. This news becomes the final straw in their breakup. The seven-year relationship had already been strained by each being attracted to other men. Those other affairs provide an exploration of both the lives of the top one-percent and those who must sell their bodies to scrape by.
The Fourth Wall Bar and Café has on offer a flight of six specialty cocktails celebrating the production. The rainbow runs from the red Diana Daiquiri through Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to Violet Eyes. Rainbow Pride never sipped so fine!
The Inheritance, Parts One and Two in repertory at Round House Theatre through October 19. Stay tuned for my review of Part Two, coming soon.
Late news: Now extended through November 2.