Word: rusting
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BORN: Aug. 18, 1938, Holly Springs EDUCATION: Rust College, B.S., 1962 FAMILY: Divorced; three children RELIGION: Methodist MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Paralegal; teacher POLITICAL CAREER: Democratic nominee for Mississippi House, 1995 ADDRESS: P.O. Box 571, Holly Springs...
This was the case at the Adams Pool last weekend, where writer, director and star Neil Farnsworth '98 staged his play "Rust." Many in the audience commented that they could remember reading the play in draft form over two years ago, and there's no question that Farnsworth mush have moved heaven and earth--or at least the OFA--to get his work from the page to the stage. But the play itself had no more to recommend it than most freshman efforts; and the cast, for whatever reason, didn't add much to its appeal...
...plot of "Rust" is a blend of familiar elements, invoking by turns Albee, Williams and others. Brad (played by Farnsworth, disguised unsubtly on the program as "Ichabod Crane"), a schlumpy former grad student, is stuck in his childhood home in New Orleans because his selfish siblings refuse to help him take care of their ailing mother. Scott (Jason Chaffin), the older brother, is a smug, cold yuppie; Jane (Sarah Yellen), the sister, is a cruel harpy masquerading as a p.c. environmentalist. Poor old Mom, played by the usually effervescent Shar von Boskirk, has nothing to do but sit center-stage...
...minutes, "Rust" alternates between scenes of sheer cruelty and a type of low comedy, provided mostly by the shrieking, dull neighbor Miss Nancy (Tegan Willever), and a few familiar jokes about shouting in libraries and Geraldo Rivera. In the end, after his escape collapses just as his siblings have predicted, Brad comes close to a moral moment of truth--should he kill his mother, for all their sakes?--and Farnsworth does a good job in this scene, alternately stricken and hopeful. But the tension of the moment is dissipated in a ghostly flashback, which takes us back to the months...
Despite a few good moments--usually having to do with the siblings' reactions to Mamma's seizures, which run a convincing range from sympathy to loathing to terror--most of "Rust" is slack and predictable. Farnsworth has managed to build a play that works, but only barely--hopefully he will continue to produce more sophisticated plays, and allow this first effrt to fall back into the gentle obscurity it deserves...