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| Gregory Trigani, Paula Maliandi, Tom Kindle. |
A mediocre drama on a commonplace 70s subject, the problems of the returning Vietnam vet. Johnny DiCeasar (Tom Kindle) returns a hero, his parents smother him with affection, and his girlfriend, Susan (Paula Maliandi [shout out!]), is happy to have him back. However, he soon learns that Susan and his brother, Barry (Gregory Tigani), have been lovers, a fact known to his parents but one they were afraid to divulge. He loses his job, becomes a heavy drinker, and suffers guilty nightmares about the killing he did in Vietnam. After various frustrations, he loses his mind, brands his parents as monsters, and is taken away to a mental institution.
According to Clive
Barnes, the play suffered from a lack of originality, “imagination,” and
“insight,” despite its being “sincere and even serious.” It contained evidence
of craft . . . both construction and writing,” but, to Richard Watts, it was
“overwrought and heavy-handed.” He found the evening one of “tiresome
lugubriousness.” Douglas Watt detected “a genuine feeling of pity” that
redeemed the work from total failure; otherwise it was clumsily pasted together
and directed.”
Regarding the
performances, Barnes added, “This low‐keyed domestic tragedy . . . has a very
alert and promising performance by Tom Kindle as the returning soldier. Of the
rest, Sam Locante can be singled out for his performance as the much‐troubled
father.”
