THE UNAVOIDABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF TOM DURNIN
                                                            at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre

(Seen July 2, 2013)


This mini-Madoff story reveals the destruction of a family when Tom Durnin, a high calibre lawyer, solicits investments from family and friends for a venture he knows is a fraud.  The play opens with his return after serving a five-year prison term -- disbarred and homeless.  His wife has divorced and re-married, while his son is alienated from him and an emotional mess, and his daughter has 'disowned' him.

Playwright Steven Levenson has Tom trying to re-establish his former relationships with his family, as if nothing had changed -- but to no avail, although he convinces his son to let him sleep on his couch until he finds a place of his own.  Tom is relentless in pushing his son, trying to black-mail his son-in-law, and blithely showing up unwanted at his ex-wife's home.  But nothing works out.

David Morse is a strong and persuasive presence as Tom, and Christopher Denham is perfectly dysfunctional as his son trying to move on with his life.  As a study of how a family destroys itself, the play succeeds.  But as a drama, it is tedious and over-written.

Director Scott Ellis smoothly moves the action forward, but there is really no place to go.