Photo Credit: Mark Frohna
In Tandem Theatre’s current offering, Bruce Graham’s The Outgoing Tide, is effective and engaging for its use of a very specific scenario to incite universal human considerations. The story deals with elderly couple Gunner and Peg having a pivotal conversation with their adult son, Jack, who is going through a divorce. The subject: Gunner’s plans in light of his increasing dementia.
While issues such as self-determination and loss of dignity are certainly central, this isn’t a drama only for those facing a similar situation. Graham’s marvelously natural dialogue gently teases out topics as disparate as the lasting power of throwaway comments our parents make to us in our childhoods and the shifts in societal conventions related to marriage. This being a realistic depiction of a modern family, there’s humor to be had, too, in the form of inside jokes, pet peeves and “Don’t tell your mother” lines.
Production elements stunningly support the show’s sensitive navigation of comedy and tragedy. Jonathon Leubner’s sound design provides light interludes between some of the weightier scenes, while also furnishing the show with the soundscape of its Chesapeake Bay setting. Holly Blomquist’s lighting likewise includes beautiful atmospheric effects, while also visually delineating the script’s many flashbacks. Steve Barnes’ set is a perfect reflection of Gunner’s irrepressible mind: The forms are clear even when the joinders between grow hazy. Thus we find a fully realized interior and exterior of the family’s ocean-side cottage with multiple levels and few walls between spaces.
Under Chris Flieller’s direction the talented performance ensemble—James Pickering as Gunner, Susan Sweeney as Peg and Simon Jon Provan as Jack—brings similarly expert treatment to the script’s nuanced ebb and flow of psychological and relational dynamics. Pickering sparkles as a man who has always been in control of his life and family and finds nothing more horrifying than having to depend on others and face “looking foolish” before those he supports. Sweeney’s Peg is the recognizable mid-20th-century mother and wife who “spent her whole life making concessions.” While archetypal, she’s also a fully realized character grappling with the very human fear of being left alone after the long-established cast and setting of her life are upended. Provan’s Jack is a heartrending portrait of an only child—especially compelling for the number of secrets and unresolved pain he carries through the play’s two-day timeframe.
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The Outgoing Tide is an exploration of the kind of love we sometimes mistake for hatred: the love of family with its unique power to make us reflect on all other connections we make in our lives. In Tandem’s production gracefully navigates this channel to raise more questions than it answers while simultaneously providing engrossing entertainment.
Through March 18 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, call 414-271-1371 or visit intandemtheatre.org.
