COME HOME
In the lovely Broadway revival of writer Samm-Art Williams’ Tony-nominated play Home, an African-American man named Cephus Miles contemplates life or, more to the point, his life. Sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of his farmhouse, with an expanse of cornfields reaching to the North Carolina sky just behind him, Cephus recounts where he started and where he went. And now with the benefit of hindsight, he reflects on where life and, possibly, his God have eventually brought him. Opening tonight at the Todd Haimes Theatre on Broadway, this Roundabout Theatre Company presentation of Williams’ most famous play is given a respectful, understated and solid mounting, enveloping the audience like a warm hug from a treasured relative or friend. Centered on a tour-de force performance by the handsome Tory Kittles as Cephus, this lyrical onstage offering may encourage us all to take stock of where we’ve been, how we survived and where we are now, with maybe an added dash of appreciation for our own journey.
It’s somewhere in the late ’70s and an older, isolated Cephus lives alone on the North Carolina farm where he was raised. Mature but strong, Cephus still tends the land he loves by himself, even with that shaky right arm. In his direct address to the audience, Cephus soon begins to tell us his life story, including his strong belief in God and pacifism, instilled in him by the grandfather and uncle who raised him. Transforming himself into that young teenager, Cephus relives his life and all the characters and events he encountered along the way, including a traumatic and unfair stint in prison. Consistent in Cephus, however, is his belief in God even when God does not answer his prayers for help. Cephus justifies this heavenly abandonment by convincing himself that God is on vacation in Miami. However, he has no doubt that God will, eventually, “return his call”.
Tory Kittles (Cephus Miles), Brittany Inge (Woman One / Pattie Mae Wells),
and Stori Ayers (Woman Two)
Though still holding onto his spiritual core, Cephus’s situation turns tough and it is a hardened and disillusioned young Cephus who exits prison. With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, he moves to New York. Now a city man (though a country boy at heart), his fast life in The City soon slows to a halt, leaving the bewildered Cephus broke and destitute. From this demoralized state, will God ever answer his call? What does this broken country mouse do now? And where will Cephus ever find home?
Brittany Inge, Tory Kittles and Stori Ayers
While the character Cephus clearly loves the land, the playwright Samm-Art Williams clearly loves language. And it is the gorgeous tapestry that Williams creates with his words that is the highlight of the piece. Being a memory play, certain narrative strictures no longer apply and Williams takes full advantage of this more fluid landscape. Veering from the linear to the poetic to the lyrical and back again, William creates some stunning monologues and exchanges of dialogue. This pointed yet heightened style exposes Cephus’s inner world as much as his outer existence. While Cephus is the main focus, there are a multitude of characters that pepper his life’s journey and many are just as richly written and revealed.
Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles and Brittany Inge
Director Kenny Leon smartly keeps Williams’ gift for language at the forefront while his more literal staging sometimes competes with the inherently shape-shifting quality of Williams’ work. After all, the play premiered Off-Broadway in 1979, in an era of theater-making that questioned traditional expectation. Leon’s direction embraces that ethos but only to a point. While the show focuses on Cephus, the remaining characters (of which there are many) are all played by two brilliant actresses — Brittany Inge as Woman One and Stori Ayers as Woman 2. Crossing gender, age, race, socio-economic status, culture and sexuality, there seemed to be no characterization these two talented artists could not portray. Ms. Ayers also plays the love of Cephus’s life, Patti Mae Wells, and their romantic trajectory is as charming as it is heartbreaking.
Stori Ayers, Tory Kittles and Brittany Inge
As Cephus, Tory Kittles shines brightly. He is an open-hearted, talented, and powerful actor who grabs us in the beginning moments of the show and does not let go, dragging us down to the character’s hell and back up again. He also, amazingly, seems to age before our eyes without benefit of make-up. It is the weight of Cephus’s life and experience that Mr. Kittles allows to play on himself so completely that we believe all of his joys and sorrows. And if there is such a thing in a straight play, his beautiful speech about his love for the land is a showstopper, as well as his hilarious tale of getting his loaned money back from a light-skinned, Black man who passes as Native American. Design elements are all well-done, especially Arnulfo Maldonado’s malleable set and Allen Lee Hughes’s often subtle and sensitive lighting.
Samm-Art Williams passed away peacefully at his home in North Carolina on May 13, 2024, just a few days before the first preview of this revival. The show is dedicated to his memory and seems a fitting tribute to a man who died at home. And in this much lauded play, Mr. Williams offers a narrative that allows us all to reflect on our journeys, both to and from home. Here’s hoping that when God got the call that Samm-Art was on his way. He not only answered the phone but was waiting for the playwright with a big hug.
photos by Joan Marcus, 2024
Home
Roundabout Theatre Company
Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42nd St
90 minutes, no intermission
ends on July 21, 2024
for tickets, call 212.719.1300 or visit Roundabout