Photo Credit: Melinda Rhodebeck
“It’s a terrible thing,” says James Callifer late in The Potting Shed. “To have nothing in you.”
Graham Greene’s psychological drama, which Acacia Theatre Company opened last weekend, is a mystery on a number of levels. James has been ostracized by his family for nearly 30 years, based on a secret of what occurred in the potting shed when he was 14 years old. He turns up, uninvited to see his dying father and continues to be rejected by all, including his own mother.
So, what really happened that day? The Callifers are a family of atheists, with the dying patriarch having made a successful living from it. James remembers nothing from his past, only that he was sent away at 14. His return begins the journey toward what is “the truth” of what actually took place that day in the potting shed.
When Greene wrote the play in the mid 1950s, the well-known author had recently “accepted” Catholicism and it affected his writing from that point on. The Potting Shed is his testament to that “acceptance,” pitting faith against apostasy, prayer against proof, spirituality against... nothing.
Originally written in three acts, this production spends the 65-minute First Act slowly peeling back the layers of the secret buried at its core. It’s the Second Act where all is revealed (no spoilers here) and director Therese Goode skillfully builds the suspense to its shocking climax, when James confronts his alcoholic priest uncle who has lost his faith. It was Father William who was there with James that day in the shed. (And given our 2019 sensibilities, it’s not that).
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Veteran Acacia actor David Sapiro turns in a mesmerizing performance in this pivotal role, unlocking buried memories for both men and guiding James back to feeling something, “alive” within himself. As James, Dennis Lewis is just as powerful; deeply troubled yet determined to find his way as he searches for “the truth.”
The rest of the 11-member cast is just as solid; Glenna Gustin in a complex role as James’ mother, manages to elicit our empathy despite the outright rejection of her child. Paige Landrum brings some welcome comic relief as James’ young niece-turned-sleuth, Anne. Regardless of our own beliefs, The Potting Shed asks us to consider and search out our own “truths.” Only by doing so can we truly live.
Through March 10 at Concordia University’s Todd Wehr Auditorium, 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive. For tickets, call 414-744-5995 or visit acaciatheatre.com.
