The Late Henry Moss

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Great work, great company
My first Shepard play. My latediscovery was this terrific production. Energy, clarity, nothing over- or underdone, great ensemble.

Reviewed by seankernan on Sunday, Aug 1st, 2010

An important play performed beautifully by an excellent cast...
The Late Henry Moss is an incredible play. I encourage everyone to see this production at the 45th Street Theatre. Set in an America poised on the brink of the Iraq War, two estranged brothers, struggling with their identities politically and sexually, are reunited in the home of their recently deceased father, a man whose abusive behavior, brought on by alchoholism and a childhood spent under an opressive pre-civil rights era has turned him into the catalyst for the dissolution of their ideals and ultimately their family life. Enter Conchalla played by Sonia Torres, Henrys mistress. She is a free-spirited symbol of the liberation of the id and has embraced the idea of the oneness of existence with nature, due, no doubt, to her mixed racial characteristics half mexican, half native american. She is one of the outsider characters of the play and serves as the classical harpy archetype, reminding Henry of his sins and his innevitable destiny of oblivion. The other outsider in this play is the character of Taxi. Played, deftly by Raymond Hill he is the unwitting messager and deliverer of Henry to his final destination, that of self realization. With his virility and youthful yet rugged appearance, Taxi is a reminder of his younger days in another time, a time of possibility in a past world fraught with illegal wars against asians and simple german folk trying to improve their lot in life. This is the source of Henrys guilt: the guilt of abandoning his unliberated wife; the guilt of the physical abuse of his children and the guilt of his own conflicting feelings for his homosexual neighbor, Esteban John Torres. Conchallas devouring of the fish in Act 2 is her enthusiastic embrace of her budding lesbianism. Her last desperate act of defiance toward a world that refuses to acknowledge her unique identity. It is a scene of near Greek proporations and well worth the price of admission. Paul Newport and Tom Paveys portrayals of the two brothers, troubled by the knowledge of their forbidden desire for one another, is nothing short of astounding. The late Heath Ledger and that other guy whose sister is also an actress can only wish they had achieved the level of scintilating tension that these two actors have brought to the stage of the 45th Street Theatre. Their scenes pulse with tension as they contemplate their dilemma and the repercussions that would befall them by an unswervingly intolerant Bush Administration were they to act on their feelings of mutual longing. All in all this was indeed a gratifying night of topical and political, yet instructive theatre. Dont miss it!

Reviewed by Lord Haw Haw on Friday, Jul 23rd, 2010