My overall impression
Neff somehow manages to bring 15 characters to life- including her larger than life father- without confusing or exhausting the audience or overacting. The subject matter- the effects of mental illness on the individual and family dynamics – is heavy, yet bearable in her capable hands. The story begins when “Ange” is a child and slowly becomes aware of her father’s battle with substances and the workings of his own mind and ends with his dramatic suicide. In between we are treated to a sensitive, entertaining series of vignettes illustrating and celebrating her fathers ongoing battle and her family life. The characterizations are so strong that you can identify each of the 12+ characters by their physicality long before they even utter a word. As the play drew to a close I was afraid that Neff would begin to try and make a sweeping statement about the state of mental illness treatment in America or attempt to sum up things neatly with a moral or worse wax on about how she is a better person etc. Instead the final images- wonderfully lit, staged and executed- are of her coming to terms with her father’s life and death in a very real and believable way. I felt a little guilty feeling happy at the end of this one, but it is a dramedy. So, I guess that’s okay.
