The latest offering by the Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Folks at Home, is a hilarious and thoughtful take on today’s complicated lives using 1970s sitcom tropes. Playwright R. Eric Thomas has authored a clever and snappy piece that explores today’s economic, political, sexual, and racial changes with great humor and heart.
An interracial same-sex couple, realist Roger (Keith Illidge) and dreamer Brandon (Garrett Young), are on the verge of losing their Baltimore home when Roger’s parents (Olivia D. Dawson and Sean Blake) announce they will be moving in when they lose their home. Brandon’s mother (Tracy Michelle Arnold) also moves in to the attic after losing her home. Tensions in the now-crowded household are made worse by Roger’s unemployment and Brandon’s underemployment. Maureen, Brandon’s mother, says racially charged things and visits Walmart every day just to socialize with the cashiers. Roger’s mother Pamela takes offense at her comments, and continues to work as a paralegal and grieves for the house she and her husband worked hard for. Vernon, Roger’s father, is older and irritates his son with his nostalgia for “the good old days” when he understood what was going on. Throw noisy and chaotic “maid” Alice (Claire Wilcher) into the mix, and you have the elements of joyful madness. Brandon’s pregnant sister Brittany (also Claire Wilcher) visits to drop some hysterical truth bombs on her brother. Oh, there’s talk of a ghost rattling around the house as well. Brandon and Roger, coping as best they can with the stress of it all come to some realizations about letting go of the house, but holding tight to each other.
The entire cast is completely on point, with Arnold and Dawson giving standout performances as two moms with very different views of the world. Illidge and Young’s take on the two young marrieds feels true and complex. The biggest laughs come from Blake’s “old man” Vernon and Wilcher’s over-the-top Alice and Brittany.
Structured like a beloved 70s living room sitcom, the acts are short and sweet, and director Reggie D. White makes sure that each act pops with energy.
The Folks at Home will be at the IRT through March 16. Visit irtlive.com or call 317-635-5252 for ticket availability.
