4000 Miles opened last week at The New Jewish Theatre. It’s the story of an old New York radical whose 22-year-old grandson comes to crash at her apartment for a while. This all sounds warm and cozy, of course. But while it doesn’t fall into the realm of pathology, it’s very realistic in that things are never quite as tidy as they appear, especially when it comes to families.
Leo (Chris Tipp) has just bicycled cross-country from Seattle when he arrives in the middle of the night. Grandma Vera (Amy Loui) wasn’t expecting him – she knew he was coming to town but thought he’d be staying with his girlfriend. Actually, Vera is his step-grandmother; their grandfather was her second husband Joe, dead these ten years now. But she’s been around so long, they’re functionally hers. So she says what she thinks, and she’s not much for the warm and fuzzy. Especially when she’s awakened at 3 a.m. and doesn’t have her teeth in her mouth. And who among us can blame her for that?
The kid is still soft and un-formed, at loose ends, and his determination to “finish something”, meaning the bike ride, is uncharacteristic. But seeing his friend killed in an accident somewhere in Kansas might have begun a change.
Loui’s Vera is still pretty formidable despite having to reach for words frequently and fighting a hearing aid. It’s nice seeing an elderly character with some spine – osteoporosis or not – and Vera’s got it. Chris Tipp softens many of Leo’s rough edges. His youthful enthusiasms aren’t demands of Vera but suggestions in an effort to be helpful, or at least polite, although at times we can see anger bursting through.
Rachel Fenton is Bec, the girlfriend, or girlfriend-as-was. His presenting her with a wee squash is sort of emblematic of things between them as Bec’s fading interest continues to wane. Leo also picks up Amanda (Grace Langford), whom he manages to address as Amelia as soon as he gets her into the apartment. Things go downhill from there, and Langford’s timing in the scene works very well.
The apartment, from scenic designer Marissa Todd, is spot-on for the situation, the sort of rent-controlled place that newcomers dream of and mentally remove the crocheted afghans and wall art. Michele Friedman Siler dresses Vera, in particular, in a way that reflects her age and social style as well.
Good ensemble work, and director Ed Coffield’s touch with letting Leo be less prickly than he might have been works particularly well.
4000 Miles
through May 28, 2017
The New Jewish Theatre
The Wool Family Studio
Jewish Community Center Staenberg Family Complex
2 Millstone Campus Drive, Creve Coeur