Toby's (Jared Reinfeldt) book "Loved Boy," adapted for the stage, is premiering in Chicago and Henry is away on business. One autumn, Walter and Eric (Eddie Shields of SpeakEasy's "The View Upstairs") grow close when their partners are away. Despite Henry's companionship, his existence seems marked by loneliness. His recounting of stories evokes the warmth of an elder sharing tales with a family member by the fire. But just like life, things aren't always as rosy as they seem.ĭold was part of the original Broadway cast and is a consummate storyteller both as Morgan and Walter, bestowing wisdom in each role.
Dold, an acclaimed veteran of Barrington Stage Company plays), and Henry (Dennis Trainor Jr.), a billionaire Republican, have been together for 36 years and have accumulated all the trappings of the rich including a house in the Hamptons and later, an address in Eric's building at full price. The cast of "The Inheritance" at SpeakEasy Stage Company. Eric's befriended an older married couple, Walter Poole and Henry Wilcox (who was once married to a woman and fathered two sons), who both witnessed the ravaging AIDS epidemic firsthand. Eric is a kind-hearted bibliophile and activist who went to all the right schools and has a rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side. The narrative centers mostly around Toby Darling, an ambitious self-centered writer afraid of authenticity and his partner Eric Glass whom he lives with. Performed in the round, there's an immediate sense of intimacy and immersion cultivated. Fortunately, both Daigneault and the gifted ensemble are more than up to the task.
Daigneault, the company's artistic director, has his hands full with a complex production that calls on the cast to play multiple characters. The more than six-hour play is artfully directed by Paul Daigneault. Forster shows up as Morgan, his middle name, as a guide for the characters, pushing them to be brave, tell their stories and live fully. Forster wrote several popular books, including "Maurice" about two men in love - one of several gay touchstones mentioned throughout - which was published after his death in 1970. Forster novel "Howard's End" about class and money. The narrative, an engrossing two-part production by SpeakEasy Stage Company (at the Calderwood Pavilion through June 11) premiered in 2018 in London to great acclaim and later debuted on Broadway. In the four-time Oliver-Award winning Matthew López play "The Inheritance," this question (of what is bestowed or owed to one another, physically or otherwise, gets explored through multiple generations of gay men in New York city both during and after the height of the AIDS epidemic.
But less tangible heirlooms like memories, culture, history and love are also gifts rendered from generation to generation to those willing and able to receive them. (Courtesy Nile Scott Studios)Īt the end of life, belongings such as money, books, homes, and cars get bequeathed to some and denied or stolen from others.