Fun Home-Not what you would expect
Fun Home, a multi- award winning musical opened this weekend at Harlequin Productions in Olympia. Adapted from the 2005 graphic novel of the same name by Alison Bechel, it deals with two basic themes; coming out as a Lesbian in a family where the father is a closeted gay (and possible pedophile) as well as the emotional impact of his extreme narcissistic personality on her emotionally.
As a grown-woman and professional artist, Alison sits at her drafting table jogging her memory about her dysfunctional family as she is trying to write and illustrate her graphic novel. Both her parents seem to have had thwarted ambitions; they had once lived in Greenwich Village and had aspirations beyond what a small-town in Pennsylvania could offer, in an era where homosexuality was not openly tolerated, especially in small towns.
Married with three children, the father, Bruce, played by Galloway Stevens, is a wannabe aesthete, collecting antiques, compulsively redecorating the house, teaching H.S. English, while also running an inherited family business, a funeral home, nicknamed the “Fun Home.” Throughout his entire marriage he has been active in a closeted gay life. So, when his pubescent daughter shows tom-boy choices in clothes, he becomes belligerently controlling and shames her mercilessly.
Their relationship is highly complicated because he is the sort of narcissist who upstages everyone all the time and has a nasty bully temper. Having an emotional IQ of 0, he also sidesteps with dexterity, any conversation about her emotional well-being or about the difficulties she encounters coming out as a Lesbian in her first semester in college.
On the other hand, he is highly educated and instills an interest in literature, music and art in his children. In his own overbearing pontifical manner, he does instill some confidence in his daughter.
Unfortunately, Alison keeps “looking for bread in a hardware store” and hangs in there for far too long, not adjusting her expectations to what she can really get emotionally from this narcissist. As she learns self-acceptance and begins adult life positively, he goes the opposite way.
Although I found the story extremely compelling, not just because of the inherent tragedy involved in the repression of the LGBTQ community, but because of the impact of the father’s narcissism on the children and his wife, but I did not think the story was enhanced by framing it as a musical.
Except for two numbers, the music and the lyrics were not at all interesting, the fact that the music was so loud that we generally couldn’t hear the lyrics did not help. The most enjoyable musical number was when the three children, Alison, John and Christian are mischievously horsing around in the funeral home, hiding out in the casket and decide to use a cassette recorder to record their own musical number. It was positively delightful because it seemed to organically evolve from the story; it did not seem tacked on. The simple choreography was amusing, and it really brought to life the antics of siblings, played by Zoey Mathews as Alison, Lane Nixon as Christian and Wade Mutcher as John, the youngest.
The second number which was enjoyable was a solo Alison sings post-coitally in her college dorm room, when she finally consummates her relationship with her friend Joan, the lyrics were snappy, and delivered with honesty by Eleise Moore.
There were also technical issues which did not help the production. Bruce, the father often had difficulty finding the spot-light, and the costuming was very non-specific. Had there not been a reference to the bi-centennial, it would have been impossible to determine when it took place and that is crucial for a play with the theme of coming out as counter herteronormative Particularly the costume and hairstyle of Helen, the wife, was more 50’s that 70’s.
Also, a long epic taking place in several different very specific locations is not really suitable for a stage play, as the numerous scene changes, although well executed, slowed things down and were a distraction. Perhaps the author should turn over her graphic novel to a screenwriter as it would make an excellent movie. Family dysfunction is popular these days, but this one is not about the destruction of an individual but about her resurrection
Fun Home. Harlequin Productions. 202- 4th Ave E. Olympia, WA 98501 Thur-Sat 7:30 pm. Sat-Sun matinées 2 pm. Wed Oct. 26 Pay What You Can. Closes Oct. 29. Tickets; https://harlequinproductions.org/show/fun-home-2/