Recent headlines about the religious cult in Texas have caused all of us to think carefully about the definition of family and the role of the male within it. ACT's second play of the season offers a different view of men and their children."Fathers and Sons" by Michael Bradford looks at the men in one family and examines their place as fathers, husbands and sons. This family, as do so many others, has a history that includes absence, mistakes, mistrust and broken promises. Its characters must confront this past as they seek to redefine themselves and triumph over crisis.Bradford is a highly gifted, young playwright whose interest in the theater was sparked by seeing August Wilson's "Fences." He teaches dramatic arts at the University of Connecticut and has already been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards for his earlier plays. ACT offers us the world premiere of "Fathers and Sons." Among its cast are four local actors who have been seen on many stages nationally.The production is the third offered through collaboration between ACT and the Hansberry Project, a professional Black theater company. This partnership brings classics from the African-American canon as well as new works from emerging and established playwrights to ACT during its mainstage season. Valerie Curtis-Newton who directs "Fathers and Sons" is an artistic associate at ACT as well as head of directing at the University of Washington's School of Drama and artistic director for the Hansberry Project.Producing a world premiere is always fraught with challenges; producing it in the round (such as ACT's Allen Theatre) adds to the complexity. As scenic designer Matthew Smucker says, "...designing scenery in the round is like creating a sculpture." He sees it as paradoxically both more realistic and more artificial than it would be on a traditional proscenium stage.Of course, the set has to be composed so that every seat in the theater offers an interesting view and an exciting composition. This is no easy task. Then add the challenge of meeting the demands of the script. In "Fathers and Sons" a floor-to-ceiling plate-glass window features prominently. So how does the design team create the window and the sense of light from the city below and the Manhattan cityscape when there are no walls? Smucker and his team have done it, but I won't spoil the surprise by telling just how."Fathers and Sons," with its wry humor and dialogue in the mode of August Wilson, offers a compelling exploration of family. Its focus is, of course, on the special circumstances of an African-American family, but, at a basic level, it concerns all families.[[In-content Ad]]
