Home Front at La Mama's First Floor Theatre
Home Front, by Daniel Algie, at La Mama's First Floor Theatre from 9 - 26 Nov 2006.
Home Front: The play takes place on the porch and in the front yard of a Midwest farmhouse during a summer's weekend in 1972. Harrison, an honorable Army corporal missing in action for seven years, has been declared dead by the military. His wife's attempt to deny official notification of her husband's death has led her to a nervous breakdown and hospitalization. Her father-in-law has offered shelter to his son's adored two young boys and their unstable mother. However, his dark view of his deceased wife and his missing son suggests an emotional disconnect laced with anger and despair.
When Harrison unexpectedly comes down the dusty country road, we learn that he has been imprisoned and tortured by the Viet Cong. Ultimately repatriated, he has slipped away from a stateside Army hospital and brought his shattered spirit to his Midwestern home in hopes of making his ravaged soul whole again. He savors the rediscovery of his family and looks forward to the solace of his childhood friend and Vietnam buddy, who enjoys the normalcy of marriage and a new family. However, there is tragedy brewing, and his friend's law and order job as Deputy Sheriff implodes their friendship in ways that deliver unexpected consequences.
Directed by E. Randahl Hoey, Home Front features Christy Pusz, Joseph Jamrog, Fletcher McTaggart, H. Clark, Connell Cole and Anthony Duke Claus.
Set design by Josh Zangen, with costumes by Erika Lilienthal, lighting by Joel E. Silver and sound by Juan Cruz Masotta.
Originally published on