Celebrated 20th-century novelist Graham Greene turned his talents to playwriting for a brief period. One of these plays, the little-known psychological drama The Potting Shed, has been revived in an Acacia Theater production that is directed by Therese Goode,. The play has been called an “intellectual detective story.” It's set in 1955 England. James Callifer (Dennis Lewis) is called to his father’s deathbed by a telegram sent by his niece Anne (Paige Landrum). However, he is turned away from seeing the old man once he arrives. The rebuff is nothing new to James, who has been emotionally isolated from his family since a long-ago incident involving him as a teen. The trouble is, James has no recollection of this event. Still, the sudden estrangement from his family has left him emotionally deadened for the rest of his life. He now lives alone as a 50ish newspaperman. At the family’s estate (nicely rendered by set designer Ashley DeVos) he sees Sara (Kimberly Giddens), his ex-wife. She is plainly still in love with him. They have been divorced for several years, and Sara reveals why: she never felt that James had loving feelings for her. Another major character is Mrs. Callifer (Glenna Gustin), who realizes that her loyalty to her husband has resulted in a terrible disservice to her son James. However, even when the old man dies, she hesitates to reveal the particulars of the incident. She notes that her husband, a famous rationalist intellectual, rejected his son because the “potting shed incident” put his views into question. He could never quite muster the same world view without questioning it. It should be noted that Acacia is a Christian-based theater company that typically focuses on plays involving characters who wrestle with their faith. Much of the play’s dialogue and pacing feel old-fashioned, with some extraneous characters added to flesh out the plot. However, one of the most interesting of these is Dr. Kreuzer (Ben Parman), a psychologist who uses injections of “truth serum” to help James remember the critical incident that changed the course of his life. Parman keeps his emotional distance as a professional therapist while still reaching out to patients (such as James) who may do themselves harm. It is a well-done balancing act that adds credibility to Parman’s character. Perhaps the most interesting character (and not a minor one) is James’s uncle, Father William Callifer (David Sapiro). As a priest who no longer believes in the holy rituals of Mass, Sapiro drinks to overcome his pain. Like James, he is similarly ostracized by the family for his religious calling. When James visits him one night, Father Callifer is in a particularly desolate mood. Father Callifer reveals that, during the traumatic mystery from years ago, he promised God to take his faith in exchange for James’ life. But seeing James again, as an adult, seems to rekindle the priest’s views on religious life.
Playwright Graham Greene, a staunch Roman Catholic, used his talents to create a play that wrestles with faith vs. rationalism in a somewhat satisfying way. The cast does a good job overall of presenting Greene’s arguments.
