“Buried Child” a finely acted, surreal gothic tale at the Valley Rep Company

ENFIELD — If the title doesn’t give it away, “Buried Child,” written by Sam Shepard and playing at the Valley Repertory Company, is no comedy.
Shepard won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama this extraordinary play, which is set in the living room of a dilapidated farmhouse on a farm that no one is farming in Illinois.
It is a surreal, macabre, modern gothic tragedy of a dysfunctional farming family’s demise.
An invalid, alcoholic father, Dodge, has become dependent on his grown sons, Tilden and Bradley, while their mother, Halie, lives in a bizarre religious fantasy world of her own, idolizing a third dead son who died in a motel room on his honeymoon under mysterious conditions that are never explained.
She relentlessly and heartlessly nags what remains of her miserable family, finding relief flirting with the priest and solace in the religion of denial.
Tilden’s son, Vincent, and his new girlfriend, Shelly, unexpectedly drop in while on a road trip to New Mexico, where the son thinks his father is living. When Vincent arrives, however, the father and grandfather act as if the grandson is a stranger.
Odd things start happening, such as when Tilden enters the room with an armful of corn, and then an armful of carrots, even though the father and mother insist that nothing has been planted.
The family is unhealthily united under the shared burden of an incestual and murderous secret that eventually is revealed, but nothing is ever clearly spelled out or fully explained.
Each cast member is excellent, but Don Thomas’ nuanced and complex portrayal as the diminished curmudgeon, Dodge, is nothing short of remarkable.
He plays a man desperate for some whiskey, starring blankly at the television screen, and carrying the burden of a desperate secret like a cancer eating at him from the inside.
His hollowed out cheeks and weak condition belie a stubborn determination along with a wickedly funny intelligence that is believable and natural within the surreal proceedings.
Still, as sad and depressing as this story is, it is also bitingly and darkly funny at times, thanks mostly to Thomas’ Dodge, who, although he is on his last leg, hasn’t lost his wits.
Denise Walker plays the menacing Betty Davis-like matriarch Halie, and the confused and permanently depressed and depleted eldest son, Tilden, is played with unending sadness by Chris Kibble.
Jim York as the other living son, Bradley, who accidentally sawed his leg off with a chainsaw, is singularly creepy and totally scary, while Aaron L. Schwartz fits into the craziness of the household well as Tilden’s long-absent son, Vincent.
Janine Flood plays the relatively normal girlfriend, Shelly, as the outsider who is alternately repelled and oddly intrigued by the family lunacy.
Gary Turrel plays the Father Dewis with ecclesiastic hypocrisy.
The choice of blues guitar music between scenes works well to set the melancholy mood, but perhaps blending the second and third acts together would be a good idea. One intermission a show is preferable.
The solid set is beautifully and solidly constructed, with set and lighting design along with directing credits going to Eric Albetski, but it might have been more dilapidated to match the decrepit reality of these characters’ existence.
Make no doubt about it though, this is Dodge’s play, just as Shakespeare’s “King Lear” belongs to the monarch and Willy Loman is integral to Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” In it Thomas plays the role of a lifetime, and is one of the best and most believable actors I have ever seen on any stage.
Perseverance along with perversity pervades in this dark but fascinating tale — a brave choice by the Valley Repertory Company.

BURIED CHILD

3½ Stars
Theater: Valley Repertory Company
Location: 100 High Street, Enfield
Production: Written by Sam Shepard. Directed by Eric Albetski. Produced by Jan Albetski. Stage manager and assistant director Jason Fregeau. Costumes by Jeffrey Flood. Set and lighting design by Eric Albetski.
Running time: 2 ½ hours, with two intermission
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 16.
Tickets: $10 in advance and $12 at the door. $8 prepaid and $10 at the door for seniors over 60 and youth under 18. Adult language & situations. Call 860-749-4665 or visit their website at www.valleyrep.com

ACTOR…CHARACTER
Don Thomas … Dodge
Denise Walker … Halie
Chris Kibble … Tilden
Jim York … Bradley
Janine Flood … Shelly
Aaron L. Schwartz … Vincent
Gary Turrel … Father Dewis