On one side, we have Bob, married, dying of AIDS, and living alone in his West Village apartment after his wife has walked out. On the other, we have his nephew, Josh, brooding, belligerent and ready to badger his relative into returning to his family. How Uncle Bob can talk and talk and talk - although his dialogue doesn't sound remotely conversational. The play starts with a diatribe, an extended harangue by Bob to an unseen visitor who has opened the unlocked door to Bob's apartment and stands there, hidden. In fact, the intruder turns out to be Josh, who has hitchhiked into town and decides to move in with his contrary uncle.
Recriminations fly furiously for nearly two hours.
Although the actors try hard, director Courtney Moorehead has been unable to give these confrontations much forward momentum. He is a forceful, technically adept actor, able to manage Pendleton's torrent of words and still inject some humor into all the verbiage. Harold travels from outburst to outburst without going anywhere at all. Any copying, redistribution or retransmition of the content of this service without the express writen consent of the Bradenton Herald is expressly prohibited.