Review by Elyse Trevers
How much do childhood experiences impact us as adults? In the mid-’80s, the four Conlee children play in their attic, imitating the adult world they see around them. They repeat their parents’ language, arguments and quarrels. “Make Believe,” at the Second Stage Theater, is a beautifully written work by playwright Bess Wohl ( “Small Mouth Sounds”.) As they playhouse, the youngsters reveal the harsh reality of their actual world.
Chris (Ryan Foust) mimics the anger and hostility of their absent, philandering father and Kate (Maren Heary) plays the depressed suffering mother who occasionally flares up. Addie (Casey Hilton) is Little Miss, mothering her Cabbage Patch doll, sometimes lovingly, sometimes indifferently. The youngest, Carl (Harrison Fox) is always on his knees and barking as he plays the family dog.
Yet soon the make-believe becomes grim when their mother fails to return home. How long have they been alone? The play is purposely ambiguous. The kids don’t seem to know and neither do we. Is it hours? Days? Their only connection to the adult world comes from the answering machine downstairs, and when the phone rings, the children press their ears to the floor to listen. Their father is away, supposedly on a business trip, and the children fear that they will be separated if they are discovered alone. As stand-in father, Chris provides the provisions for the family, but when Kate questions how he gets them, he doesn’t respond.
All the questions will be answered in time as the play seamlessly moves into the future. Will the children be traumatized by their childhood experiences? “It’s just our childhood; we’re not going to remember it anyway,” Chris explains to the upset children as they change their clothes and leave the attic room.
The time change is done simply with an article of clothing, as 32 years later four adults with the same names as the vanished children: Kate (Samantha Mathis), Addie (Susannah Flood), Chris (Kim Fischer) and Carl (Brad Heberlee) return for a funeral. Despite their troubling childhoods, they have become successful in their fields. Ironically, Carl has accomplished the most.
Directed by Michael Greif, the skillfully- written play offers light moments as well as dark. Some of the early interactions between the siblings are humorous as the audience recognizes familiar sibling behavior. The kids bicker and pick on each other. Chris revels in tormenting his little sister Addie while Kate, convinced that she’s related to Princess Grace, daydreams about escaping to join her in Monaco. Carl is simply content crawling about on the floor.
W.C Fields advised that actors should “never work with animals or children” because they are notorious scene-stealers. The youngsters in the play are delightful and their actions, though scripted, are natural and realistic. Yet there’s no competition here with the adult actors who easily hold their own, giving solid performances.
“Make Believe” is moving and troubling. It reminds us that childhood isn’t always idyllic and peaceful. It is often fraught with pain and anger, and children will be impacted by the cruel realities of the world in front of them and mimic them, even in play.
