A night at the theater

Last evening I was able to see the new play Finding the Burnett Heart (Burnett is the family name) by Paul Elliott. It is at the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Grandfather James has just lost is wife, Dottie, which befuddled his mind. He can't live alone just now, so his son Robert and wife Grace take him in. The only space for an extra bed is in grandson Tyler's room. Tyler is 16. James is quite the curmudgeon and it takes a while for James and Tyler to see each other as human. About the time the ice begins to thaw James makes a crack about gays, which doesn't sit well with Tyler because Robert's brother Jimmy was gay (he died of a heart attack before the story opens) which James had refused to see. In the course of that argument Tyler also admits to being gay. Grace, the religious one, tells Tyler to pack and move out. Tyler asks to stay with Brian, Jimmy's partner. Brian has a long one-sided argument with James, saying he won't let the old man treat the grandson like he treated the son. Though Grace wants her son gone she won't let him move in with "that pervert." After time to think it over James realizes that he loved Dottie the same way Brian loved Jimmy. With that he becomes Tyler's ally to win over Grace.

Detroit Rep tries to be color-blind in their casting, which lead to Black people playing Grace, Robert, and Tyler (an actual teenager who did an outstanding job) and white people playing James and Brian. That implied that Dottie was Black and James had a biracial marriage, and that James should have been a bit more progressive than he was. The issue wasn't just over homosexuality -- James was the kind of guy who insisted everything had its place, including children, and Robert and Jimmy threw their lives away when they decided not to be doctors. There was a lot of reconciliation that needed to be done.

The show runs one more weekend. Their ticket prices are embarrassingly cheap. Last night the 175 seat theater had 30 people in it. Go see it if you can. I haven't spoiled everything.