Alternating between 1950’s Cape Town and contemporary London, this deeply human and complex drama weighs the price that a gifted musician’s single-minded devotion to his art exacts upon his relationship with his family.
This domestic drama by the author of THE DRESSER begins in Cape Town some forty years ago with a fateful day in the life of a hapless Jewish family, whose only son is a musical prodigy. The second act takes place in a present- day London recording studio, where said prodigy, now a successful concert pianist, meets up again with his widowed mother, aunt, and uncle. Where has his art taken him? What has it meant to all of them? A superb cast finely directed and carefully recorded answers these questions in a riveting production taped before a live audience. Stacy Keach convincingly plays the grown-up musician and his Lithuania-born schlemiel of a father. It's the Yiddishisms he hasn't quite mastered. As his self-pitying wife, Alice Krige gives a passionate, albeit strident, performance. I've heard my own Jewish mother rant in much the same words and tone. Jeffrey Jones and Miriam Margolyes flawlessly render the supporting roles that give the play much of its humor and humanity. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
Awards...
Audiofile Earphones Award Winner
—Audiofile Magazine...
A superb cast finely directed and carefully recorded in a riveting production taped before a live audience.
