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Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C. The Inheritance, Part Two Also see Susan's reviews of Julius X: A Re-Envisioning of the Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare and Strategic Love Play
Director Tom Story continues his sensitive, minutely examined telling of the story as it follows a group of gay male friends from the years of the AIDS epidemic to the present. The second part, like the first, takes its plot and character inspirations from elements of gay author E.M. Forster's life and the plot of his novel, "Howards End," with one addition: Margaret (the luminous Nancy Robinette), whose presence adds to the deep humanity and heart in Part Two. Lee Savage's scenic design retains the flexibility it showed in Part One while also bringing one previously superfluous element into the foreground: a centuries-old cherry tree that shelters the (stage) ground beneath it, with clusters of blossoms that (part of Colin K. Bills' lighting design) radiate light in shifting colors. The interconnections among the many characters become increasingly complex as two of them decide to marry, while others have trouble moving forward with their lives. The standouts are David Gow as Eric Glass, who finds himself adrift as the men he has loved have left him; Jordi Bertran Ramirez as both Adam McDowell, an ambitious actor, and Leo, an eager young man living however he can; Adam Ross as playwright Toby Darling, one of Eric's former lovers; and Robert Gant as Henry Wilcox, a wealthy gay man who came of age in an earlier generation. Robinette appears only in one extended scene, but her appearance and her monologue become the core of the drama. The Inheritance, Parts One and Two run through November 2, 2025, at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda MD. For tickets and information, please call 240-644-1100 or visit www.roundhousetheatre.org. By Matthew Lopez Cast: (in alphabetical order) |
