Housing Problems

Home Free

By Lanford Wilson

Directed by Jacqueline Sloane

At the Adams Kronaeur Space

Tonight and Tomorrow night at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m.

Just when you were beginning to think that you had the worst social life on campus, that doing your laundry on Friday night might be more productive than looking for a party, onto the scene walk anti-socialites Lawrence and Joanna.

Lawrence and Joanna don't go out much. Lawrence sits in his room all day, talking to his imaginary friends. Joanna is more gregarious; in want of a social life, she goes out every now and then to count the squares on the sidewalks.

Fortunately Lawrence (Pierre Carlo Talenti) and Joanna (Mankwe Ndosi) are merely fictious characters in Lanford Wilson's play, Home Free, which runs through this weekend at Adams House.

As bad as Harvard House life may seem, it hardly compares to the disturbing daily lives of Joanna and Lawrence. In essence, Wilson's one-act play is not what one might necessarily consider drama. Trauma, perhaps is a better way of describing it.

Lawrence, who suffers from acute agoraphobia, refuses to leave the house. But he is by no means lonely. Lawrence has plenty of friends. The only problem is that they are invisible.

Lawrence's only "real life" friend is Joanna. And despite her paranoid tendencies, Joanna is a swell friend. She tells Lawrence about her daily adventures outside. In return, he lets her play with his toy ferris wheel.

Playing is a serious business for these two. The opening of the "surprise box" at two o'clock sharp is just as important to them as any power lunch is to a businessperson. In essence, Lawrence and Joanna have learned to cope with the real world by transforming it into the make-believe.

The daily recounting of Joanna's adventures is also a serious part of their quality time together. Conversely, matters such as the paying of the month's rent and Joanna's pregnancy are trivialized or ignored. "Maybe you'll have kittens!" Lawrence gleefully announces to Joanna.

Despite its initial charms, this romper room behavior quickly loses its appeal. Even Mr. Rogers knows that there's only so much time one can spend in Make-Believe-Land. Unfortunately, the characters in Lanford Wilson's play overstay their visit.

The main problem with the Home Free is that one never comes to identify with these characters. We are told that Lawrence is an agoraphobic. We are told that Joanna is pregnant. And we are told that they cannot pay their rent. At first, these sound like problems that any audience could relate to. Yet all of these givens lose their meanings in the context of the absurdist world that Wilson creates.

Performers Pier Carlo Talenti and Mankwe Ndosi have done their best to draw the audience into their isolated world. Talenti and Ndosi bring a tremendous amount of energy to their performances. Talenti brings an endearing and childish naivete to the role of Lawrence, which makes his portrayal seem all the more natural. Ndosi's performance as Joanna is executed with intelligence and veracity. But although both actors are able to suspend reality for awhile, they have essentially been assigned an impossible task. Lawrence and Joanna are not your average couple. And so, despite the valiant attempts of the cast, the audience all too often feels like the unwanted guest of some private family ritual.

Another possible reason for the audience's discomfort may have been the theater space itself. The Kronauer Space, essentially a glorified basement space in Adams House, is not exactly what one would call a room with a view. The stage is set in one corner of the basement, and director Jackie Sloan makes no attempt to hide the humble surroundings. Decorated with rummage sale-like furniture, the set does not appear different from any of the other rooms in the Adams basement.

Although Talenti and Ndosi emit plenty of energy in their performances, it was not as if there was a lack of it in the Saturday performance. The water pipes on the ceiling kept the room at a toasty temperature.

Space presents itself as another problem. There is just not enough of it. Intimacy is fine, but unfortunately, in the Kronauer production, the audience tends to feel as if it is too close to be comfortable. Though almost an arm's length from the actors on stage, one never feels as if these are the type of characters you'd like to embrace. If anything, one would tend to stay as far away as possible from these unfriendly hermits.

Landford Wilson's play Home Free is not exactly what you'd call home sweet home. And so, despite the strong performances, the play's disturbing subject matter might make you feel decidedly home free by the time you leave.