In playwright Leslye Headland’s sometimes scorching, often very funny comedy/drama, Cult of Love, we are introduced to the Dahl clan on Christmas Eve. Parents Ginny and Bill reside in bucolic Connecticut. Their home is decked out for the holiday (courtesy of John Lee Beatty’s festive set). As per tradition, they have welcomed their now grown-up children, and their significant other’s for the holiday gathering. While the setting appears joyful and merry – the show opens with instruments strumming, piano keys jangling, all accompanied by a family sing-a-long (kudos to Musical Supervisor Jacinth Greywoode) – the harmonious state is a mirage. The Dahl’s have…issues. Significant issues.
Mom (Mare Winningham), who brought up her children in a strict Christian home, is righteous and controlling. Dad (David Rasche), potentially in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, is lovingly affable, but forgetful. The eldest son Mark (Zachary Quinto), who left divinity school to become a lawyer, is adrift in his career and marriage to Rachel (Molly Bernard). There is daughter Evie (Rebecca Henderson) and her wife Pippa (Roberta Colindrez), who have never been truly accepted by members of the family. Diana (Shailene Woodley), married to James (Christopher Lowell), an Episcopalian minister, spews hurtful and intolerant invectives. Then there’s the youngest, Johnny (Christopher Sears), a former drug abuser and free-spirit in recovery, who arrives with Loren (Barbie Ferreira), also a one-time drug user.
Ms. Headland has taken these dysfunctional family dynamics and laced together a show that flows effectively from one eye-opening scene to another. Just when audience members have absorbed one revelatory incident, another portentous moment arrives. She has taken issues of homophobia and religious intolerance and deftly woven them into the plot without coming across as preachy or contrived.
Director Trip Cullum has skillfully taken the large cast and presented the action as real and naturalistic. The overlapping dialogue and apparent spontaneity of the actors gives the production an authentic feel. He keenly utilizes the upstairs of the house and the kitchen as a refuge for characters to regroup before coming back on to the stage for another round of confrontations.
The ensemble cast is outstanding. Each of the actors and actresses flawlessly execute their roles. Their performances encompass all the emotions – the highs and lows – that holiday get-togethers can have on family members in close quarters and with a lifetime of baggage.
Cult of Love, playing at 2ndStage through February 2, 2025.
