Our opening mainstage show’s theme is one that many individuals and families face–making the most of life when a loved one is no longer capable of independence. Though the subject is far from a light one, this show treats it with gentle humor and a creative approach. In the middle of the night, Eliot Pryne, professor of English literature specializing in Shakespeare is packing what he thinks is a suitcase and leaving what he thinks is a hotel. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, he is “taking leave” of the real world and imagining a new one, but the transition is painful. His alter-ego (Eliot-1), mostly unseen except by the audience, charts this final voyage speaking as Eliot once did when he was the leading authority on Shakespeare’s King Lear. 

The visit of Eliot’s three daughters, Alma, Liz, and Cordelia, forms the central event of this oddly comic, yet fully sympathetic play. The decision—whether or not to have Father put in a “home”—provides the central conflict among the three very different sisters: the public-school counselor, Alma; the TV actress, Liz; and the ne’er-do-well vagabond, Cordelia, who arrives in her black leather motorcycle outfit fresh from a year in Paris and a history of drug abuse. As in Shakespeare’s play, it is the young Cordelia who assumes responsibility for her father and leaves us with the bittersweet realization that, while all will not be well, Eliot’s taking leave will be a gentle one. We think that you will find that the show, our season’s only drama, treats an important subject not too heavily, and lives up to its many accolades.

We want to caution patrons that there will be a few strong words used by the characters during the play, and a small bit of inuendo. We’d suggest you consider it PG-13.