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42°F / 5°C
(Rain. Fog. Nippy.)
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415 Geary Street
American Conservatory Theater
San Francisco, CA
94102
Powell
+1 415 749 2228
Fax: +1 415 439 2322
 Website
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A 2008 production from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), Jane Anderson's The Quality of Life marks another triumph for the prolific playwright/director. The play begins with a grieving couple from Ohio, Dinah (Poltergeist’s JoBeth Williams) and Bill (Stephen Culp of Desperate Housewives), who lost their only daughter the previous year. They travel to the hills of Oakland to visit Dinah’s cousin, Jeanette (Laurie Metcalf, Roseanne) and her husband Neil (Dennis Boutsikaris, Law & Order) upon learning that the couple recently lost their home in a large brush fire. Jeanette and Neil, however, are far less concerned about the loss of possessions than of the rapid progression of Neil’s cancer, which is terminal. What develops from this reunion of sorts turns into a classic clash between liberal and conservative religious ideals, as each couple reveals to the other how their beliefs help and hinder their ability to cope with nearly immitigable sorrow. While all of this talk of death may sound depressing and morose, the production, helped to no end by the talents of the cast and the writing, more often than not elicit much deserved laughter from the audience. JoBeth Williams and Laurie Metcalf especially shine as they show off their comedic chops. The scene where Dinah shares a little of Neil’s medical marijuana, and then goes off on a tangent on her love/hate relationship with certain biblical characters, is of particular delight. In the end, the material provides a heartfelt testament to the fundamental truth that, whatever beliefs or background a person may have, human beings all love, laugh and cry, not in isolation, but with one another.-Christopher Medina
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