How shocking is this?
Are you ready for a father-son story in which the bonds of love and respect are forged of steel, in a family that is, in fact, wrapped in a cocoon of love? In its warm glow of reminiscence, its nostalgia for a “back then” time when you know in your bones that everything will turn out right, the Purple Rose Theatre’s “Leaving Iowa” is so out of step with today’s hard-edged theater fare that it is, actually, almost perfect.
This heartland comedy is so out of step that it comes as a welcome relief, a two-hour bubble bath in which an Iowa family’s relationships are poked, prodded — and hold up under the scrutiny. Dad (Grant Krause) is the kind of teacher who lives to share each bit of esoteric information he comes across with his family — “It’s fascinating!” — on long auto trips that never seem to get further than the Midwest.
His children, son Don (John Lepard) and daughter Sis (Teri L. Clark), complain, whine and pinch each other in the back seat as children have done since the dawn of the automotive age.
But in this family, where the strongest parental reprimand to a son who’s done something foolish is “What the heck were you thinking?” you know that the ties that bind come from a loving, caring source.
Three years after Dad dies, Mom (Elizabeth Ann Townsend) and the children are finally ready to scatter his ashes. Now a big shot Boston reporter, Don’s guilt about leaving his Iowa roots propels him to take on the task, which is where the play’s action begins.
’Round about the middle of Act I, you may think, “Where is this going? These people all love each other! There’s no conflict, no dramatic arc.”
But first-time Chicago playwrights Tim Clue and Spike Manton pull it all together in a way that finally makes perfect sense and leaves you with a smile on your face and a desire to hug your kids.
As a world premiere, “Leaving Iowa” enhances the Purple Rose Theatre Company’s credentials in choosing quintessentially American plays that are sure crowd-pleasers.
The laughs are frequent, but there’s more subtext to “Leaving Iowa” than what appears on the placid surface. The principal cast handles multiple roles — and multiple ages — admirably. And Jim Porterfield, who’s a delight as a park ranger, and a short-order chef, and a hog farmer, and much more — lends solid support.
Joan Behrmann is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer and theater critic.