Athol Fugard’s World Premiere of “Have You Seen Us?” at Long Wharf is a fine, nuanced production

NEW HAVEN — I once knew a man who had a son who could feel no pain and almost died when his appendix burst and he didn’t know it.
Pain, either physical or emotional, is often considered anathema in our society as something to avoid like the plague and ignored or denied sometimes with the assistance of drugs or alcohol. But without some discomfort and pain we would miss out on growth and the possibility of change and transformation into wiser and more fulfilled individuals.
In Athol Fugard’s world premiere of “Have You Seen Us?” at the Long Wharf, Sam Waterston plays a bitter South African emigrant, Henry Parsons, who is living a lonely isolated life in Southern California. His only relationship is a love/hate one with an illegal alien from Mexico, Adela, who is a waitress at a coffee shop, played by Liza Colon-Zayas.
Colon-Zayas is quite good as the no nonsense earthy woman, but for some reason Colon-Zayas stares into the audience at times, which is somewhat unnerving.
She also doesn’t have enough independent activities to keep her occupied. How many times can you sweep the floor and clean off the table? She would be better served if she had some soup to prepare or another cooking activity while Waterston’s Parsons is chatting away with his fine Africaan accent.
It is not an easy one, that accent, and Waterston seems uneasy with it as he opens the play, but as it continues, he comes into his own. This play with its small cast is made or destroyed by the sensitivity of the actors, and make no mistake about it, Waterston is the heart and soul of this show, and he is riveting. He is aided in part by his shock of gray hair, which is almost a character on it’s own.
It’s easy to like a likable person, but Waterston makes the angry, mean, and often nasty Parsons compelling and intriguing. When he sings his alma mater’s Africaan school song, his face erupts with constantly changing and mesmerizing expressions that I could not stop watching, showing such life and pain and heartbreaking nostalgia that speaks far beyond words to deep understanding. It is beautiful and will make you fall in love with this lovely play.
Waterston’s Parsons is a college professor, estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, and intensely anti-Semitic. This suppressed belief rises to the surface when he wishes a couple Merry Christmas and the man, Solly, responds, “Thank you, but we are Jewish.”
Solly is played by Sol Frieder, who slowly enters the stage with his wife Rachel, played by Elaine Kusack. They were so believable that when they entered the stage from the hallway, I first thought the elderly couple were late-arriving audience members interrupting the show.
The two have a quiet, sweet dignity and tenderness that is touching, and flies in the face of Parson’s barely contained contempt.
Not only does the play examine blind prejudice, but it also explores the nature of alcoholism as well as the cultural vapidity created by the expedient strip malls.
I know that friends of Bill would take issue with me, but I don’t like Alcohol Anonymous’ tenant “once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.” I realize AA has helped millions, but I hate labels of any sort, especially the negative ones, and it saddens me that people carry that negative stereotype about themselves throughout their lives as a way to stay away from drinking their problems away.
It was only last year that I saw another of the prolific Fugard’s world premiere “Coming Home” and I was not impressed. But now with “Have You Seen Us?” I understand what all the fuss over Fugard is about.
This is a beautiful and beautifully produced show that takes an indirect and unsentimental look at the transformational grace of redemption and forgiveness.

HAVE YOU SEEN US?

3 1/2 Stars
Location: 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven
Production: Written by Athol Fugard. Directed by Gordon Edelstein. Set design by Eugene Lee. Costumes by Jennifer Von Mayrhauser. Lighting by Stephen Strawbridge. Sound design by Corrine Livingston. Dialect coach Stephen Gabis. Stage manager Jason Kaiser.
Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes with no intermission.
Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday at 7 p.m., Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Wednesday and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. and Saturday matinee at 3 p.m. through Sunday, Dec. 20.
Tickets: $42 to $72. For more information call their box office at 203-787-4282, or visit their website at www.longwharf.org
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Sam Waterston … Henry Parsons
Liza Colon-Zayas … Adela
Sol Frieder … Solly
Elaine Kussack … Rachel