In his intensely mesmerizing new play, one of Will Arbery’s characters calls liberals “empathy addicts.” There are no liberals on stage in Heroes of the Fourth Turning. Catholic conservatives from rural Wyoming have stormed a Manhattan theater. They are not attempting conversion as much as communication. The dialogue is so brilliant that it draws you into this little world for a sane glimpse into a group not often sympathetically (or even respectfully) represented in plays.
Laura Jellinek’s set design contains a lone house at dawn. There is a forest nearby and a mountain in the distance. The lights are dim. Justin (Jeb Kreager) is sitting quietly on the porch when he hears something. He picks up his rifle and shoots. He retrieves a deer and dumps it on his porch for gutting. Stains of blood and murder set the tone.
Justin’s home is the location for an after party. The Transfiguration College of Wyoming has just installed a new President. This is a private Catholic College, similar to one the playwright attended. His father is the current President of that school. If you want a peek into a world that is laser focused on propagating its beliefs – especially if they disagree with yours – and you want that view to be adorned with some of the most satisfyingly artful and intelligent prose, then this play is a must see.
Gina is the new President but she has not yet arrived at this party and it is getting late. Emily (Julia McDermott) is her daughter who has an unexplained illness, walks with crutches and manages to exist in a state of perpetual goodness. She’s devout but counts as friends one who works at Planned Parenthood and another who is a drag queen. It is easy to love her and her contradictions.
Teresa has come back to the school to celebrate one of her teachers and this particular accomplishment. She lives in Brooklyn. The world around her is filled with evil liberals. She reminded me of a terrifically articulate Ann Coulter type. She smokes and does cocaine. Her exquisitely delivered staccato diatribes are nothing short of spectacular. Zoë Winters performance is mind-blowing. It is easy to dislike her but she’s got spunk for days.
She argues that abortion and the Holocaust are the same thing. Abolishing slavery has led to anti-slavery where “they” are trying to “oppress us.” Almost militant in her convictions, I could never be friends with someone this far off my spectrum of reasonableness. Sitting in a theater and absorbing her beliefs without any opportunity to argue or turn the channel forces listening. She’s whip smart and polished. This play gives her voice a serious pulpit. The theatergoer can take it all in and think.
The Fourth Turning of the title is a pseudoscientific theory which believes that every generation goes through four cycles. Teresa explains this and believes it wholeheartedly. We are currently at the fourth period which is also known as crisis. Who’s fault? If you guess Obama then you would be correct.
Kevin is the fool of the play. He’s drinking tonight and desperately trying to find a girlfriend. He is filled with self-loathing. Teresa calls him a “soy boy.” Portrayed by John Zdrojeski, he is a young man who graduated from this college. He’s young and caught between his commitment to faith and obsession with internet porn. He questions his behavior when going to church, speed praying by rote and then going off to brunch.
The character of Kevin is filled with heart and soul, along with supremely entertaining inner conflicts. They erupt volcanically in an enormously self-deprecating way. Mr. Zdrojeski is superb in his depiction of this deeply flawed yet highly sympathetic character.
When Gina (Michelle Pawk, excellent) finally arrives to pick up her daughter, the debates escalate even further. Rather than simply showcase a pile of brainless conservatives, Mr. Arbery has created five individuals who reside along the spectrum of conservatism. Gina is looking past the Trump presidency. “He’s a gaseous windbag and I pray for his soul.” He was, however, the choice that had to be made.
Danya Taymor beautifully directed this cyclone of intermingling arguments and interpersonal relationship drama. Heroes of the Fourth Turning is dense with language and concepts. Somehow Ms. Taymor makes this celebratory evening at Justin’s house crackle with realistic life. This production is one of the year’s finest.
Fans of debate will find this entire play filled with scintillating verbiage. You may or may not agree with the content and that’s the point. Asking a New York audience to sit for two hours with no intermission and listen to a non-stop barrage of conservative philosophizing may seem audacious and ill-advised. Not at all.
Perhaps this play is the first pylon in the creation of a new bridge in which opposite points of view are actually heard. I’ll certainly never align with most of the opinions of conservatives and the inherent hatred which permeates organized religion. Like the author, I grew up in such a household. I’ve stopped hearing them. Will Arbery’s play, however, made me listen and appreciate his mission to write this astonishing literary achievement.
4 Replies to “Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons)”