THE RITZ-CARLTON, DEARBORN AND
FORD MOTOR COMPANY INVITE YOU TO EXPERIENCE

`Conversations
With
My Father'

AUDREY BECKER

Special to the Jewish News

T

he first conversation in
Herb Gardner's Tony
Award-winning

Conversations with My
Father centers around the selling of the

Homeland Tavern, a family-owned bar
in lower Manhattan. As Josh (Travis
Reiff) lingers, clearing out some dusty
family artifacts from the upstairs
apartment, he meets with stubborn
exasperation from his father, Charlie
(Joseph Haynes). The rest of the play
traces the painful genesis of pater-
nal stubbornness as Charlie
drifts into a dark reverie
about his own father, the
inimitable Eddie Goldberg.
Eddie Goldberg, played with De
Niro-esque toughness by Chicago
actor Alan Ball, is a survivor of bloody
pogroms that decimated his family. In
Lower Manhattan, he attempts to con-
struct and reconstruct his American
identity as he changes his name from
Goldberg to Ross. This evolution of
identity is played out in the name of
the bar itself, which Eddie changes
from the Golden Door Tavern to the
Flamingo Lounge, successively outfit-
ting the establishment with token
symbols of Americana: an enormous
moose-head draped with Hawaiian
leis, a pink flamingo chandelier and
paper pineapple ornaments. The
authentic Jewish recipes prepared by
his wife Gusta (Dede Pochos) —
whom he renames Gloria — are writ-
ten up on the chalkboard menu as
Mulligan stew and apple pie.
A staunch regular in the bar is the
noble and histrionic Yiddish actor
Zaretsky (Arthur Beer), who, like
Eddie, also witnessed the horror of the
pogroms. Neither has forgotten the
terror of those events. But they do not
agree on what it means to remember.
While Eddie views assimilation into a
homogenous American identity as a
method of self-preservation, Zaretsky
insists upon preserving a Jewish identi-
ty, even if it is unfashionable.
Director Greg Trzaskoma (who
audiences will remember from JET's
recent production of The Immigrant)
handles all the theatrical ingredients
with confidence and insight, allowing
the play to simmer before it boils over

in the explosive second act. It is a long
play (clocking in at about three
hours), but — as is the case with writ-
ers of Gardner's caliber
each
moment, every word, has important
resonance.
It is a credit to Trzaskoma's mature
direction and artistic integrity that he
hasn't compromised the play by reck-
lessly, cutting the script. In addition,
the technical aspects of JET's produc-
tion are superb. The bar itself becomes
a character under the capable hands of
scenic designer Monika Essen. It is an
invitingly realistic vision of a Canal
Street tavern, from the numbers scrib-
bled on the wall by the pay phone to
the 1940s glamour girl photographs.
To populate the bar, Trzaskoma has
assembled an exceptionally talented
ensemble cast for this challenging
piece. Alan Ball attacks the mammoth
role of Eddie Goldberg with pas-
sion and compassion, never
allowing us to entirely con-
demn Eddie for his anger.
- Joseph Haynes gives a beautifully
understated performance as the elder
Charlie. Arthur Beer is dynamic as
Zaretsky, relishing the role with appro-
priate bravado. Evelyn Orbach (JET's
artistic director) dazzles in the endear-
ing character role of Hanna
DiBlindeh.
Especially notable is handsome
Bradley Gonik, who excels in the cru-
cial dual roles of Young Joey and
Young Charlie, the sons who embody
their father's fervor in different ways.
Seventh-grade actor Gonik appears on
stage with the natural ease of a sea-
soned pro, giving two remarkably
intelligent and effective performances.
Gardner's play, which was a runner-
up for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in
1992, succeeds in depicting with psy-
chological sophistication the conflicts
at the heart of the drama. The attempt
to comprehend the inexplicable and
inconsistent behavior of a stubborn
father is, of course, the classic Jewish
male struggle. Conversations with My
Father reworks this Old Testament
theme, turning it into a brilliant study
not only of the legacy of persecution
but the pathos of sons who are more
like their fathers than they are able to
acknowledge.
It is an important work of art and
JET's production more than does it
justice.

❑

$26. (248) 788-2900.

CELEBRATE tHE cvisinE OF FR,AnCE
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WINE-MAKER DINNER
Thursday, November 9, 2000
6:30pm
$125 per person

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Thursday, November 16, 2000
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Conversations with my Father

runs at the Jewish Ensemble
Theatre through Nov. 26. $16-

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