"THE CIDER HOUSE RULES: PART 2," Famous Door Theatre Company at Victory Gardens Theater
BY LUCIA MAURO
Almost one month after opening the first part of Peter Parnell’s epic stage adaptation of John Irving’s bestselling novel, Famous Door Theatre Company presented "The Cider House Rules: Part 2" at Victory Gardens. While the adaptation is still problematic in its sprawling exactitude, and the second part runs close to four hours, at least acts one and two display a more fluid and confident sense of storytelling under the smart direction of David Cromer and Marc Grapey.
Act Three -- which lingers repetitiously in the now-adult orphan Homer Wells’ world, with the 15-year-old son he and Candy Kendall conceived but whose origins are kept secret -- has a tendency to exhaust viewers already sated on the work’s rich moral dilemmas surrounding one’s purpose in life. One gets the sense that adapter Parnell could not bring himself to streamline the story to its evocative core. Certain characters, therefore (like angry orphan Melony), pop in and out of the script – reduced to an unexplored "type." Her quest to find Homer is not urgently sustained; and we get only unexplored glimpses of Melony’s lesbian relationship with factory worker Lorna and futile attempts at suicide that go nowhere.
In addition, the pivotal story of the African-American migrant workers who room in the cider house on the Worthington’s apple orchard (where Homer lives with the now-married Candy and Wally, who has returned from World War II a paraplegic) is not given its all-encompassing due. The migrant workers’ story – involving the incestuous relationship between Mr. Rose and his teenage daughter – has large gaps, which cause their saga to keep getting overshadowed by other incidents, namely Dr. Larch’s plans to get Homer to take over Maine’s St. Cloud’s Orphanage and Homer’s tumultuous relationship with Candy. It’s not until the end of act three that Mr. Rose’s tale picks up speed – giving the play an awkward arc.
On stage, it also becomes glaringly obvious that the teenage Angel is Homer’s and Candy’s child. Wally, a fighter pilot whose plane was shot down in Burma, comes across as too cheery and accommodating for someone who returns from the war paralyzed. We’re never quite sure if he’s in denial over the harsh reality that surrounds his domestic life or if he just doesn’t realize that Angel is Homer’s and Candy’s son. The adapter then tries to tackle what could be its own play: the growing interracial relationship between Angel and Rose Rose.
Perhaps some stories are too vast to contain on stage, especially when the adapter insists on remaining painstakingly faithful to the novel. Consolidation truly is possible – and strongly encouraged -- in "Cider House." And so much of the additional material, especially the one-dimensional Melony’s tireless search for Homer, could have been cut altogether. An adaptation of this scope is bound to shortchange characters. While Candy, for instance, is a mercurial presence, we never really get to understand her motivations or her anguish over being in love with two men.
In other sections, we’re served familiar conventions – like Larch carrying on an imaginary correspondence with deceased orphan Fuzzy Stone on the pros and cons of performing abortions. In the end, the stories don’t hold together as powerfully as one would expect. That’s not to say this is not an inspiring theatrical experience. It’s simply not a transformational one.
In Part Two, however, the actors have grown more secure in their roles. Larry Neumann, Jr.’s Dr. Larch is more nuanced, while Daniell Kuhlman’s Homer carves a more intense presence. Other strong performances include Laura T. Fisher’s Nurse Edna; Elaine Rivkin’s Nurse Angela; Penny Slusher’s Mrs. Grogan; De Anna N. J. Brooks’ Rose Rose; Joey Honsa’s Candy; Brad Eric Johnson’s Wally; and Deborah Leydig’s Olive Worthington.
Because audiences must wade through so many stories, it might be easy to miss "Cider’ House’s" overriding theme of the perils and joys of Homer’s "heart condition" on many levels. After clearing the play’s extraneous matter from my mind, I was most struck by the work’s compelling paradox of the neatness of surgical procedures juxtaposed against the messiness of people’s lives.•
Famous Door Theatre Company’s production of "The Cider House Rules: Part 2" runs through April 6 in rotating repertory with "The Cider House Rules: Part 1" at Victory Gardens Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln. Tickets: $15-$32. Dinner packages are available. Call 773-871-3000.
