Lanford Wilson (1937–2011)

A memory play — 17 year old Alan goes to a San Diego suburb to spend time with his father, who left when he was a baby. The father's family consists of his 2nd wife Ronnie, two young sons, and two fostered teenagers: wild and sexy Carol, addicted to pills, and plain Penny. The father is a red-neck jerk who makes a pass at Penny, who demands Alan work full time at an aeronautics factory while a full-time student, who dominates his passive wife. He suspects Alan is gay; it does not end well. I suspect the play is autobiographical. So, a slice of life play--not my favorite kind. But I worked on a finely-crafted production of this at Second Stage, where Jeff Daniels played Alan and Jill Eikenberry played the wife, and that was a sight to behold.… (mere)

An interesting slice of middle-20th century drama that captures the feel of the time (at least in terms of what was happening in theatre). It dispenses with elaborate sets, strips much of the dialogue down to bare bones, and addresses social issues earnestly. In spite of all that, it was enjoyable and well written. Rimers is the only full length play in the collection, so it reads quickly, in just a couple of hours for an average reader. It can get difficult to follow at times unless you create a flow chart of who is where and why and with whom (something I chose not to do) because his characters often speak at once, holding multiple conversations on separate parts of the stage, and time and place bleed together so that a character in one scene speaking with one person will suddenly appear in another scene speaking to someone else. Time is non-linear, which can also make it difficult to follow at times, but if you persevere, it will be worth your effort.… (mere)