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'Humble' a comedy, plain and simple
By Kathleen Allen
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.02.2008
Three years ago, director Howard Allen was on one of his regular treks to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival when he saw Charlotte Jones' "Humble Boy."
He's been itching to direct it ever since.
"I recognized that it is a wonderful comedy about a family," said Allen, who directs the Beowulf Alley Theatre Company production opening next week.
"Every single character in the play leads you into the center of the play. There are six characters in all, and they are all wonderful parts for actors."
"Humble Boy" is a comedy, plain and simple, said Allen (not related to this writer).
"It has amazingly huge, wonderful laughs," he said.
At the center of "Humble Boy" is Felix, an astrophysicist in his mid-30s.
He was in search of a unified-field theory when he was called home for his father's funeral.
There he is confronted with a mother who never seemed to care much, her kinda creepy boyfriend, a one-time love and the gardener.
Unity, he finds, must include the insanity of family.
The play has been called "Hamlet"-inspired, and playwright Jones has said Shakespeare's tragedy was on her mind when she wrote it.
"The more I thought about the mother/son relationship . . . I saw parallels with 'Hamlet' that I decided to embrace," she said in an interview to Colorado Back Stage.
"The opening situation can be compared to 'Hamlet,' when the son comes home for his father's funeral, but that's it," said Allen.
Mostly, said Allen, "the writing is spectacularly good. It's rich. There are wonderful set- ups and payoffs in the journeys of every one of the characters. All the stuff you look for in a really wonderful comedy."
And, he adds, "there are some poignant moments in the story that will also surprise you.
"And laughs."
Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star Elizabeth Leadon plays Rosie and Royce Sparks stars as Felix Humble in Beowulf Alley's production of "Humble Boy."
● Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.
