'I Never Sang for My Father' Has Just the Right Pace

Director Susan Devine knows how to let a scene breathe easily, understanding that a playwright's words do not need wind pumped into them by overeager actors. But she also knows when to let it rip, to unleash emotion built up and nurtured during quieter moments. The result is a satisfying production of Robert Anderson's drama "I Never Sang for My Father" by Providence Players of Fairfax.

A middle-aged son struggles to achieve emotional peace with his aging father in this play, which ran on Broadway for only 124 performances in 1968, a disappointment for the writer of hits such as "Tea and Sympathy" and "You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running," and films including "The Sand Pebbles."

One of the reasons the show failed on Broadway is that none of the characters are particularly memorable on their own. They're ordinary people in a common situation, and it isn't until late that emotions explode that allow exploration of real feelings in depth.

Matt Ames plays mild-mannered and recently widowed Gene, who has a chance to move away from his hometown and begin life again. But his overbearing and emotionally cold father, Tom (John Coscia), begins to need Gene's help as he deteriorates mentally and physically. Gene resents his father's aloofness and desires a loving relationship, but the old man only retreats more into stubbornness and detachment. He overcame substantial barriers to achieve success and respect in his community, and he's not about to soften.

Coscia's portrayal in the early part of the play is problematic because we see few signs of the business executive and political leader that Tom was. Gene describes his father as having "the bearing of a retired brigadier general," but Coscia shows us only a shuffling, doddering shadow. We don't see the steely resolve Tom uses to maintain his dignity and mask his infirmities, and that makes Gene seem weaker than he should. That undermines some of Ames's work, but the actors rise to the occasion later, when the gloves finally come off.

Two outstanding performances effectively bracket Tom and Gene. They are turned in by Nancy Thompson as Gene's mother, Margaret, and Leta Hall, as his sister, Alice. Thompson can express a lifetime of emotional highs and lows with subtle changes of tone and facial expression. Her Margaret nurtures those around her, even as she relies on a tough inner core for survival.

Hall galvanizes the production when she finally shows up in a vivid performance as the exiled daughter, the opposite of her passive brother. Hall avoids melodrama, offering instead a clean, uncluttered look at a tough and fearless woman who simply plays the cards life has dealt her without self-pity. Her performance leads to the unleashing of pent-up emotions that are the play's magic, and that are the payoff for Devine's patience with the early parts.

"I Never Sang for My Father" continues through March 4 at the James Lee Community Center Theater, 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday. For information, visithttp://www.providenceplayers.org. For tickets, call 703-425-6782.