‘The Inheritance’: Gay epic shines with hope

‘THE INHERITANCE’: (left to right) Samuel H. Levine, Kyle Soller, Kyle Harris, Arturo Luis Solia, Jordan Barbour & (kneeling) Darryl Gene Daughtry, Jr. Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

THE INHERITANCE
By Matthew Lopez
Inspired by the novel Howard’s End by E. M. Forster
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th Street
(212-239-6200), www.theinheritanceplay.com

By David NouNou

The Inheritance is a complex and ambitious play. Clocking in at six and a half hours and being a two-parter, it would damn well have to be. Playwright Matthew Lopez is using The Inheritance as a parallel story to E. M. Forster’s Howard’s End, as well as using Forster’s middle name Morgan as a character in his play. There are countless references to Forster’s Maurice as a coming-of-age novel for a lot of young male gays. In reality, it was forbidden and illegal for Forster (who died in 1970) to even experience a male touch for much of his life in his native England. Forster’s first male touch actually happened when he was 33 years old.

Set in various parts of New York City spanning from 2015 to 2018, so begins the crisscrossing narrative and the intersecting of lives of a dozen young gay males through different stages of their lives. The concept of the set by Bob Crowley is simple but brilliant, a bare stage with an elevated rectangular floor (for all the world is a stage) and the players are on it when needed while the rest of the cast sit around it as a Greek chorus, having multiple roles and are called upon when their turn comes.

The men are in a crisis and need guidance in telling their stories. Morgan (Paul Hilton), acting as narrator and guide, sets them on their path to realizing/writing their lives. In a dual role Mr. Hilton also plays Walter Poole, an older gentleman who is a socialite around Fire Island and the partner of 36 years to billionaire real estate mogul, Henry Wilcox (John Benjamin Hickey). In addition to their many places of residence, there is a special place that they bought when they first met nestled in the rural hideaways of Upstate New York.

Toby Darling (Andrew Burnap), an aspiring young self-loathing playwright, has been partners with Eric Glass (Kyle Soller), the gentlest and kindest of men, for seven years. Eric lives in a three-bedroom, two-bath apartment on West End Avenue, thus making Eric that much more appealing. Toby writes a play entitled Lover Boy, a drama about how he would like himself to be perceived instead of the way he was actually brought up. Upon hearing that Eric is losing his fantastic rent-stabilized apartment, Toby walks out on Eric and during the out-of-town rehearsals of the play, Toby falls in love with the leading man Adam (Samuel H, Levine). Adam rejects Toby for the producer of the play.

Toby moves into new digs and meets a hustler, Leo (also played by Samuel H. Levine), on the Internet with an uncanny resemblance to Adam, and for that reason starts a relationship. Since Toby moved out, Eric, on a chance meeting, renews his friendship with Walter. Walter, realizing Eric’s compassion for his fellowman, wants to take him upstate to show him his home there and what he has done with it. Walter has taken it upon himself and opened his home to many dying men due to AIDS. It’s their final refuge to die with dignity, but this will not come to be because Walter dies of cancer. Walter leaves his home to Eric, but Henry’s two sons from a previous straight marriage will not allow the house to be given away. With Walter and Toby gone, Henry Wilcox starts courting Eric Glass, ultimately leading to a proposal of marriage. This brings us to the end of Part One with an epic finale that leaves every audience member sobbing (at least it seemed so at my performance.)

What happens in Act II is less compelling, because nothing can reach the heights of the end of Act I. The play could have ended there and we would have been able to draw our own conclusions of the lives of these men and been spared the sordid, mawkish, lurid even soap-opera-style events that take place in Act II. Act II dilutes all the great work that lead up to the end of Act I.

In essence the play not only deals with the lives of these gay men, but also with the advent of AIDS and the responsibility one generation has to pass along its history to the next. E. M. Forster fostered James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and many more. Noel Coward and Tennessee Williams fostered Edward Albee. In 1968, Mart Crowley gave us the first openly gay play The Boys in The Band. In 1982, Harvey Fierstein gave us Torch Song Trilogy about men marrying and adopting a boy. In 1985, Larry Kramer gave us the first blockbuster play dealing with AIDS, The Normal Heart. Then, in 1993, we got the magnum opus by Tony Kushner Angels in America. Now, in 2019, we have The Inheritance. All these men kept gay culture alive and advanced it for the next generation.

As much as I enjoyed The Inheritance, with its clever banter and smart ideas with some excellent scenes, however, there were touches of ponderous déjà vu in it. What keeps it moving at an almost breakneck speed and never flagging is Stephen Daldry’s impeccable direction. However, a tad bit of editing in the second act would have served the play better.

Nonetheless, the acting by all is brilliant.  The leads are standouts: Paul Hilton doubling as Morgan /Walter is remarkable. John Benjamin Hickey, who has been giving great performances for over 20 years, continues delivering. Who will ever forget his 2010 Tony Award-winning role of Felix in the revival of The Normal Heart? Newcomer Kyle Soller is impeccable as Eric Glass; not one false note was registered. Samuel H. Levine as both Adam/Leo is heart wrenching, and Andrew Burnap as Toby Darling, although shrill at times, delivers a solid performance by the end. Being the only female and entering near the end of the play, Lois Smith as Margaret—the mother of a dying boy named Michael who came to Walter’s home to die due to AIDS—is simply incandescent. She is the caretaker there and gives “Mother Earth” a new meaning.

There are many ideas here and most of them are thought-provoking. A perfect play it is not, but it is full of ideas intersecting each other which makes it enjoyable to connect the dots. The Inheritance ultimately shows us that, at the heart of whatever the depths we hit, there will be hope. Hope is what ultimately keeps us all going.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 25, 2019
Reviewed at November 24, 2019 press performance.

‘THE INHERITANCE’: (left to right) Samuel H. Levine, Kyle Soller & Andrew Burnapp. Photo: Marc Brenner

‘THE INHERITANCE’: (left to right) Kyle Soller, John Benjamin Hickey, Arturo Luis Soria, Darryl Gene Daughtry, Jr., Dylan Frederick & Kyle Harris. Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

‘THE INHERITANCE’: Lois Smith & Samuel H. Levine. Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

‘THE INHERITANCE’: Paul Hilton. Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.

‘THE INHERITANCE’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.