Jan 31
Review: Wilbury Embraces Taylor Mac's Chaotic Black Comedy 'Hir'
Will Demers READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A son returns home from the war, just looking to decompress and continue his life surrounded by family and the things he's known. What awaits him is chaos: his home is a disaster, his sister is now his trangender/genderqueer sibling, his father is suffering the devastating effects of a stroke, and his mother, now the head of the household, greets her son with such distractions as trips to museums and "therapeutic" puppet shows. So much for relaxation.
Such is the world of "Hir," the brainchild of Taylor Mac, the NYC-based singer-songwriter, drag queen, producer, director, writer and actor who has, amongst his numerous accomplishments, a MacArthur Grant, and nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award. In this 2015 play, which Mac describes as "absurd realism," Mom keeps the house, or rather doesn't with unfolded laundry everywhere, air conditioning on high, and so many belongings blocking the front door that it is impassable.
The first shock that hits Isaac (Zach Gibb, "Waiting for Godot") on his return after receiving a dishonorable discharge from the Marines, is finding his father Arnold (Jim O'Brien, "The Humans" "I Got Older") wearing a nightgown, rainbow wig, clown makeup, and unable to form sentences.
His mother Paige (Jennifer Mischley, "Pirates of Penzance" "Fun Home") delights in keeping Arnold in a bed made of a deconstructed cardboard box in the living room, regularly giving him sleeping pills to keep him docile. While her treatment is unorthodox and likely criminal, it stems from her years of servitude and abuse prior to his stroke. Isaac is also shocked to learn Maxine, his teen sibling, is in the process of transitioning to Max (Will Malloy, "It's a Wonderful Life); and uses the pronoun "hir," a term that is neither male or female. Isaac responds to this radical domestic change by vomiting, and vomiting repeatedly.
Such is the context of Max's reimagined American home (circa 2015 when the play first successfully played off-Broadway.) And it unfolds with an unsettling chain of events. Indeed, the show is meant to unsettle from the onset: the set itself (designed by Monica Shinn) alludes to things to chaos to come.
Directed by Wilbury resident artist Brien Lang, Mac's play is a tight show that demands a talented cast, which it gets here. Gibb is appropriately tightly wound and turns in a fantastic performance, his Isaac is equally horrified and traumatized not only by his return home, but his wartime experiences. O'Brien is amazing - his stroke-addled Arnold is a performance to be seen. Mischley is over the top, almost like a soccer mom on speed; and she's fantastic to watch. And Malloy is appropriately awkward as Max, trying to navigate a gender change amongst the chaos of this incredibly dysfunctional family unit. "Hir" is like a car crash; no, a trainwreck with much collateral damage. And is worth a look if only for these performances.
"Hir" is running through February 4 at The Wilbury Theatre Group inside the WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley Street, Providence 02908. For information or tickets, call 401-400-7100 or visit thewilburygroup.org.
