London ‘Mad House’ is Rebeck’s best play

‘MAD HOUSE’: (left to right) David Harbour, Bill Pullman & Akiya Henry. Photo: Marc Brenner.

MAD HOUSE
Book by Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Through September 4, 2022
Ambassadors Theatre
West Street

London, United Kingdom
(0333 009 6690), www.MadHouseThePlay.co.uk

By David NouNou

LONDON—Mad House poses the question “Is this an angry home or is the house I live in a loony bin or is this house worse than living in a loony bin”? What and which does it actually mean? Theresa Rebeck is one of America’s finest and most prolific female playwrights. In the past she has given us Bernhardt/Hamlet, Dead Accounts, Seminar and Mauritius, with the latter being the most interesting. All of them contained great ideas, but most of them weren’t fully fleshed out and ran out of steam way before the ending. In Mad House, Ms. Rebeck has written what I consider her finest play. Not only is there meat on the bone, digging deeper—there is marrow in the bone.

Set in rural Pennsylvania, Michael (David Harbour), the youngest and slowest of three children, has returned to his childhood decaying home to take care of his terminally ill father, Daniel (Bill Pullman). This is no ordinary father-and-son relationship. Michael was committed to a mental institution by his older, well-to-do sister, Pam (Sinead Matthews) for nine months, is released on his own accord to look after their father. The middle child Nedward (Stephen Wight), a Wall Street tycoon, cannot be bothered by the whole mess. Both Pam and Nedward have arrived to figure out how much money their father has left.

Daniel is a separate story unto himself. Not only is he terminally ill; he is maniacally devious and calculating. He is sly as a fox and constantly manipulates the people around him to his whims. Michael has put up with a lot of his crap (literally), to prove to himself he is not the loser his siblings would like him to believe he is. There is another person that puts up with Daniel’s shenanigans and that’s the Nigerian nurse assigned to him, Lillian (Akiya Henry). She puts up with a lot because she needs this job.

A further layer to this play is the backstory Ms. Rebeck has provided each one of these people and it is not fair to reveal them to both reader/viewer because it is constantly driving the narrative forward. Let’s leave it at; this isn’t just another ugly story about siblings squabbling over a real or probable estate left behind. It goes much deeper and more poignantly.

We attended the second preview of the show, and as might be expected, the cast was not settled into their parts yet. At times they stepped on each other’s lines or stepped on a laugh line; jitters do play a big part upon the onset of a show, but in this case it really didn’t matter. Veterans David Harbour and Bill Pullman are giving career defining performances as the embittered son and father. They are at the top of their game, and their performances complement each other. The chemistry between them is felt throughout even when one of them is offstage.

However, the revelation of the evening is Akiya Henry’s performance as the hard but vulnerable Nigerian nurse. She is sheer perfection; she not only anchors the show, but the realism she brings to it is palpable. There is not much to say about the remaining cast members.

Moritz Von Stuelpnagel is a brilliant director for the offbeat, slightly off-center quirky plays. Remember his direction of the 2015 play Hand To God ? He delivers the goods yet again. His eye on Mr. Harbour, Mr. Pullman, and Ms. Henry never waivers. He is laser-focused on the three of them (little on the others) and the play is in constant motion.

I’m sure Mad House will have an easy transfer to New York. I hope Mr. Harbour, Mr. Pullman, and especially Ms. Henry will be part of the transfer. I also hope that Ms. Rebeck and Mr. Stuelpnagel will keep a sharper and keener eye when it comes to casting the supporting players to lift this show to an even higher level.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 21, 2022
Reviewed at preview performance on June 16, 2022

‘MAD HOUSE’: Marquee at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. Photo: StageZine.