Horton Foote's award winning 1953 play The Trip to Bountiful has opened at the Wetumpka Depot under the confident direction of Cushing Phillips, whose solid ensemble actors and design team sustain Foote's atmospheric study of old age with gentle naturalism.
Familiar to many from the 1985 film with Geraldine Page's Academy Award winning performance, the play recounts Carrie Watts's [Teri Sweeney] escape from the Houston, Texas apartment she shares with her son and daughter-in-law in order to return to the rural town of Bountiful where she was raised just one more time before she dies. -- Along the way, she encounters several characters who collectively ensure her journey is complete.
Carrie's son Ludie [Douglas Mitchell] is concerned about his Mother's declining physical and mental health, but is thwarted by his wife Jessie Mae [Laela Bunn] who clearly dislikes her Mother-in-law and who exerts every means possible to run the household and rein-in Carrie with constant instructions to "walk, not run" and to stop humming religious hymns around the apartment. It's no wonder that audiences are immediately on Carrie's side. -- Mr. Mitchell's performance demonstrates admirable vocal and physical comfort, and Ms. Bunn deftly skirts the limits of a petulant harridan with an occasional hint of compassion for Carrie.
When Carrie maneuvers her escape -- without money, but with a lot of gumption; and her pension check in hand -- she travels by bus near enough to Bountiful to fulfill her dream. An assortment of ticket agents, a local sheriff, and a kind-hearted younger woman named Thelma [Amy May shines in a couple of scenes] get her to her destination. But Carrie's romanticized recollection of bygone days is doomed to disappointment: old friends have died, the town is deserted, and Carrie's homestead is a dilapidated ruin. Nonetheless, her resolute demeanor has got her where she wanted to go, and she and her family make a few compromises for the future.
All eyes are on Ms. Sweeney as she inhabits the role of Carrie with subtle nuances of vocal and emotional range, garnering every bit of sympathy from audiences as she rarely appears to be "acting". Hers is a masterful performance; even the occasional abrupt shifts of temperament are grounded in the truth of the moment.
Charles Eddie Moncrief III's distressed black and grey moveable set pieces enable the Depot stage to depict numerous locations; he is abetted by Thomas Rodman's lighting design in creating an atmosphere that compliments the narrative and the character relationships.
The Trip to Bountiful is a solid production without flash or exciting action, but a gentle reminder of the value we ought to give to the needs of our older generations.
