On a Saturday afternoon in April, the warm sun streams through the French windows of Lily and Charley Wilson’s rented London home, with its modest garden just outside. A comfortable house, it’s a bit tight on their budget, so they have a boarder – Fred Tennant, a nice young clerk.
And Fred, it turns out, has news that will send shockwaves through the Wilsons’ peaceful marriage and the contented, conformist lives of their extended family. With two days’ notice, Fred leaves England for Australia, trading the security of his office job for the risk of adventure in a new, wide-open country.
“I’ll take a chance, you know,” he says. “No fortune awaits me.”
To 21st century American ears, that sounds like nothing to get nervous about. But in early 20th-century England from Elizabeth Baker’s play ‘Chains’, which made a splash when it was first produced in London in 1909, Fred is nothing short of a social rebel, throwing a sure thing in order to itching of his restlessness and — heaven forbid — striving for some happiness.
“You’re not born to have fun,” Lily’s mother says indignantly.
Baker argues otherwise in this well-constructed drama, which beneath its calm surface is as political as any play by George Bernard Shaw—one of her apparent sources of inspiration—but without his dense, intrusive speeches.
In Jenn Thompson’s beautifully acted production for the Mint Theater Company, on Manhattan’s Theater Row, the love between Lily (Laakan McHardy) and Charley (Jeremy Beck) is unequivocal. But Fred’s decision unleashes Charley’s anger at his dull, bureaucratic life, and his regret that he settled before seeing the world.
The problem is, the country Fred (Peterson Townsend) is going to had a law in 1909 called the Immigration Restriction Act, also known as the White Australia Policy, which made it exponentially more difficult for non-white immigrants to enter the country. come .
There is no mention of the law in the text, but it would be a reality for any black migrant. So with a black actor like Fred – giving a perfectly beautiful performance – we’re seemingly supposed to look past his race, in a way that makes the casting read as colorblind rather than color-conscious, the philosophy De Munt says it is. had in mind. Unless we have to think that Fred did very minimal research before boarding?
Set on an agile set by John McDermott, flatteringly lit by Paul Miller, the play’s action unfolds in less than 48 hours, giving Baker a deceptive urgency: when Charley is gripped by the temptation to risk his own life and leaving for Australia, leaving Lily behind, it’s like the boat Fred takes is Charley’s only chance.
They are not the only ones who are tired of their jobs. Lily’s sister, Maggie (Olivia Gilliatt), is so tired of working in a store that she is engaged to a man she doesn’t love, whose comfortable income allows her to stay at home and even has a servant.
Her fiancé (Ned Noyes) adores her, which turns out not to be what she needs. Fred’s courage moves and inspires Maggie. She wants a man brave enough to seek his fortune. And she wants to be brave enough herself not to do what society expects of her.
Baker, an office worker turned playwright, dared to speak out herself, taking up a job not known to be welcoming to women. When New York audiences first saw “Chains” on Broadway in an Americanized version in 1912, the script was credited in capital letters to the adapter, Porter Emerson Browne. Baker’s name appeared “in very small print,” according to the DailyExpertNews review, which accused Browne of “attempting to steal her thunder.”
Calling Baker’s play “extremely clever” and praising the performances, that review nevertheless regarded “Chains” as “slightly too well-known to create great excitement among our players.”
That’s still true. It distracts. It’s just not particularly resonating in the here and now.
Chains
Through July 23 at Theater Row, Manhattan; minttheater.org. Running time: 2 hours.
