HARBOR at Primary Stages (59E59)

(Seen August 9th, 2013)


For many, 'harbor' is a metaphor for a safe haven, where you are protected from nature's storms.  In this case,  unexpected and unwanted visitors turn this harbor into a disaster area.

In Chad Beguelin's new play. Kevin and Ted, a co-dependent gay couple who have been together for ten years, are living a happily satisfying life in Sag Harbor.  Ted is an older, successful architect who indulges his boy-toy partner, Kevin --- who has been talking about writing a novel for ten years, with nothing to show for it!

Kevin's sluttish older sister, pregnant and with her 15 year old daughter in tow, pounces into this somewhat idyllic household.  Havoc ensues in this unbelievable passing of events.  Issues of family duties and parenting run rampant, as the two women insinuate themselves into Ted and Kevin's prosaic life and lifestyle.

The play starts as a comedic sit-com, and ends as a soap opera tragedy.  Kevin's sister destroys his marriage and his relationship with Ted, further alienates her own daughter, and leaves with Kevin to act as a "mommy" for the unborn child.  The 15 year old precocious daughter remains with Ted, as if some sort of compensatory prize/burden to ease the loss of the man he loves.

It is an unlikely tale, with an unsatisfying and unreasonable conclusion.

The cast of actors is excellent, and they do what they can to bring these characters to life.  Paul Anthony Stewart, Randy Harrison, Erin Cummings, and Alexis Molnar, under director Mark Lamos' deft hand, create a lively, stereotypical, dysfunctional family, getting appreciative laughs and sobs.