PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE: TIME OF MY LIFE

F. J. Hartland

The Public Theatre’s newest production Time of My Life plays fast and loose with that very subject—time.

And while  British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s play is a comedy, a better word for it would be “bittersweet.”

Set in an Italian restaurant, the play begins at a party.  The Stratton family has gathered to celebrate the birthday of it’s matriarch, the shrewish Laura (Ann McDonough).  There is her long-suffering husband Gerry (Paxton Whitehead), her son Glyn (Tim McGeever), his wife Stephanie (Leah Curney), another son Adam (Jeffrey Withers) and his fiancée Maureen (Sarah Manton).

As the play progresses, we move forward in time to see the future of Glyn and Stephanie and also go back to see the past of Adam and Maureen.

It’s a fascinating device…I’m just not sure why it’s there.

McDonough is delightfully bitchy as the mother who adores one son—all while despising the other.  She has opinions about everything—and everyone.  And she’s not shy about expressing any of them.

Whitehead is wonderful as the long-suffering patriarch.  He plays his voice like a musical instrument, creating sonorous tones—all while capturing a dry sense of wit.  I would l listen to him read the Pittsburgh telephone directory!

The sons—and their respective mates—do an excellent job of creating seamless transformations, becoming the people they were—or will be.  McGeever has captured a veritable “Prince Charles” persona…and Curney offers up some real surprises in completing the arc of her character.

Stealing the show is the engaging Tom Beckett, who plays ALL the restaurant personnel.  From owner Ernesto Calvinu to the entire wait staff, Beckett’s changes are so complete that you will be constantly checking your program to make sure it is indeed the same actor!

Director John Tillinger, renowned for his work on Ayckbourn plays, does what he can to keep the plays moving…but it is a play about people who sit in a restaurant and talk.  Act Two moves at a much better pace than Act One—which has a great deal of exposition.

The set by James Noone is detailed and attractive.  The incidental music by Scott Killian sounds more apropos for a restaurant featuring cuisine from New Delhi and not Florence.

The play offers some good laughs as well as a disturbing look into the soul of a dysfunctional family.  It also makes us question of we know when we are truly having “the of our lives.”

Time of My Life continues at the O’Reilly Theatre through May 16.