Lillian Hellman’s second Broadway play was a one week flop titled Days to Come. It followed her triumphant The Children’s Hour and was staged prior to oft-revived The Little Foxes. In his 1936 review for the New York Times, famed critic Brooks Atkinson wrote “it is a bitter play, shot through with hatred and written with considerable heat.” Noted for presenting lost and forgotten works, this play is getting another look at the Mint Theater Company.
Mr. Atkinson did write that this drama was “elusive” and that is certainly the case. Days to Come is about the wealthy Rodman family in Callom, Ohio, a small town of Cleveland. They have owned a brush factory for multiple generations. The workers have gone on strike and the play begins with the hiring of strikebreakers. Thugs is a proper description. The weak leader of the clan is Andrew (Larry Bull) who clearly has marital issues with his frequently disappearing wife Julie (Janie Brookshire).
Much of the play seems centered around family dynamics which include spinster sister Cora, played with appropriate jitters and indignation by Mary Bacon. She collects and rearranges figurines in between belittling the servants. The family lawyer and Andrew’s lifelong friend and advisor seems to have a hand in everything. Naturally the thugs spark some predictable drama and tensions in the town escalate.
On the side of the workers is a Leo Whalen (Roderick Hill) who earnestly advises the strikers who are led by family loyalist Thomas Firth (an excellent Chris Henry Coffey). Back and forth we journey from the factory strike angle to the broader family drama. The dialogue seemed forced and not quite natural. At first I thought the uneven acting might be to blame but the play is thematically unfocused so that could be the inherent problem. What I loved about Days to Come is that Ms. Hellman does not really take a side for or against the family or the strikers. Everyone sort of loses here and perhaps that is why Mr. Atkinson called her play “bitter.” I felt the inconclusive gray area to be most interesting aspect of her writing. Otherwise, this revival is mildly thought provoking and mediocre.
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