By Eva Trieger
POWAY, California — The unconditional love that bonds a parent to a child is a palpable force, simply flowing between the two. Except when it’s not. This is the painful, yet honest theme of PowPAC’s latest show, I Never Sang for my Father. Written by Robert Anderson in 1968, a son’s desire to be loved and accepted by his taciturn, withholding father has not lost anything in the intervening 57 years.
Anderson is also known for writing other plays that share a theme of loneliness or an inability to find comfort in one’s own skin. Tea and Sympathy may have been an autobiographical story about the author’s time at Phillips Exeter Academy as a young man. His story became a Broadway play, and later still, a film. Anderson lived until the age of 91 and his works included television screen plays as well as a handful of successful Broadway shows.
PowPAC’s production brilliantly captures the perplexing and frustrating disconnect between father and son. Gene (Steve Murdock), a young widower, attempts to carve a new path in his life, but heeds the tug of caring for his aging parents. He is quite close to his loving mother, Margaret (Linda Englund), and is attentive and patient with his cantankerous, self-centered father, Tom (Jim Clevenger).
While Tom is showing signs of possible dementia, repeating himself, rigidity in thought, paranoia that everyone is trying to take advantage of him, he is resolute that he can take care of himself, and never misses the opportunity to rehash his difficult youth and harp on how he was forced to become resourceful as a youngster, caring for his siblings. Gene’s sister, Alice (Julia Smith), was banished by Tom when she married a Jewish man. Her father’s action has caused Alice to make choices in her life that did not require her parents’ blessing or support. She has devoted herself to loving her husband and children and wants her brother to choose himself over his perceived duty to their undeserving father.
Despite all of Gene’s efforts to love his father, he is constantly rebuffed and shouted down. Even putting his own happiness and future plans on hold does not deliver the rewards he seeks. There is authenticity of the scene between brother and sister. Gene has perpetually taken responsibility for his parents, while Alice has virtually stepped aside and taken the reins in her own life. Gene appears unable to sever those ties out of his yearning for the approval that Alice warns will always elude him.
Dr. Mayberry, Reverend Pell and other roles are filled by Spencer Farmer. He exudes confidence and good cheer as the doctor, and concern and compassion as the reverend. Nurse Halsey (Maisy Farmer) is thoughtful and supportive as she accompanies Tom, and delightfully playful in her role as Mary, the waitress, bantering with Tom, conspiratorially.
As always, attention to set design in this little playhouse is remarkable. Producer Lynn Wolsey and Co-Directors Linda Englund and Julia Smith partner with a production crew of talented folks including Joel Colbourn, Gunner Kruse and Marguerite Jackson Dill.
I Never Sang for My Father runs through January 26, 2025 and tickets may be purchased online at boxoffice@powpac.org or by phone at 858.679.8085.
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Eva Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in the coverage of the arts.