We'll See

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Have 16 years really passed since we first met the Apple family of Rhinebeck, NY at the Public Theater in a play by Richard Nelson set on midterm Election Day 2010? It turned out be the first of five plays about their family and the 13^thso far in the Rhinebeck Panorama, which includes plays about two other local families. The three Apple sisters, spinster high school English teacher Barbara (the magnificent Maryann Plunkett), second grade teacher Marian (Laila Robbins), nonfiction writer Jane (Sally Murphy) and their brother, retired lawyer Richard (the always watchable Jay O. Sanders) have gathered together at Barbara’s house for dinner on election day, but she has ordered them not to mention the name of you-know-who and to put their phones into airplane mode so they can’t follow the news. They are soon joined by Richard’s much younger partner Yvonne (Yvonne Woods), an actor recovering from cancer. Lots has happened since we first spent an evening with them: their beloved uncle Benjamin has died, Richard has retired from his Albany job in the Cuomo administration, high taxes have forced Marian to sell her house and move in with Barbara, Jane and her actor partner Tim have been splitting their time between Rhinebeck and NYC, and, most recently, Barbara has been unwillingly maneuvered into retirement after a specious charge of racism. As usual for an Apple family play, there is little in the way of plot, just intelligent conversation, mostly about how they and their neighbors have been impacted by what is going on in the country and the world. Their topics include fear of ICE raids, the war in Ukraine, the extremes of wokeness, gentrification, house flipping, the high cost of housing and our diminished reputation overseas. On a more personal level, they discuss strange coincidences and a mystical experience. We also get a couple of songs and two Walt Whitman poems. All this takes place as they set the table for dinner and have their meal. I don’t think a newcomer to the Apples would enjoy it as much as those of us for whom they have become almost like old friends we haven’t seen in a while. The ensemble acting is superb. The simple scenic design by Jason Ardizzone-West consists of unadorned wooden tables and chairs sitting on three beautiful Oriental rugs. The costumes by Susan Hilferty suit their characters nicely. I have heard complaints from others that they couldn’t hear properly so I urge you to buy seats in the first few rows. I was lucky enough to have a front row seat, so I was often less than two feet from the actors. Richard Nelson is that rare exception to the rule that playwrights should not direct their own plays. Even for a matinee, the audience was older than I would have expected: I’m sure the average age was over 75. I might have trimmed the play a bit, perhaps the mystical section, because my seat was growing increasingly uncomfortable. Except for that, I had a very enjoyable afternoon revisiting the Apple family. As to what lies ahead for them and for us, we’ll see. Running time: one hour 50 minutes, no intermission.