Linda Gehringer, Leo Marks and Andrew Barnicle
When middle-aged Jack (Leo Marks) goes to visit his aging father Gunner (Andrew Barnicle) at the parental home on the Chesapeake, he finds something he’s not prepared for in Bruce Graham’s moving play “The Outgoing Tide.”
The old guy is sitting at the waterside, skipping rocks on the water from the family home on the Chesapeake. Jack is used to the fact that Gunner, an Alzheimer’s sufferer, doesn’t always recognize him, but he plays along with dad’s question: “You a city guy?”
“Suburbs,” says Jack.
After his dad teaches Jack how to skip rocks on the water for a while, Jack goes into the house to see his mother Peg (Linda Gehringer). She tells him she feels they must soon move to a place with access to medical equipment and personnel, but that Gunner will not hear of it.
Anyone who has been around Alzheimer’s victims will recognize this situation. I certainly do; my father was a victim and so is my brother. It’s horrifying to watch the decline and know there’s nothing you can do to “fix” it.
But when Gunner announces that he’s going to take care of the problem himself by taking his little rowboat out into the water and committing suicide, Peg (in a way a victim herself) wants to make sure he cannot do it. “I am not ready to lose my husband now,” she tells Jack. “It’s my job: in sickness and in health.”
Watching this play is difficult, but kudos to the playwright and to Director Nike Doukas and her splendid cast for making this look and sound so realistic that we can’t help but be engaged.
Barnicle’s Gunner is both maddening and amusing as Gunner, who is still capable of making a decision he feels will benefit Peg. He just wants her benediction.
Gehringer’s Peg does a wonderful job of making us feel the helplessness of the tough spot she’s in, but also her determination to make him as comfortable as possible.
Marks’ Jack, stuck in the helpless bystander slot, still has some good advice for his mom.
Kudos also to the fine North Coast Repertory team headed by Marty Burnett’s fine set design. Matt Novotny’s lighting, Elisa Benzoni’s costumes and Aaron Rumley’s sound design also contribute to the realism of the situation.
“The Outgoing Tide” is a fine production about a difficult situation. It plays through July 3 at North Coast Repertory Theatre.
The details
“The Outgoing Tide” plays through July 3 at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach.
Shows Wednesday at 7 p.m; Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.
Tickets: (858) 481-1055 or www.northcoastrep.org
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