'Sheba' gets well-deserved revival

By Matt Windman, amNewYork Theater Critic
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January 24, 2008

The cast of "Come Back Little Sheba" (Joan Marcus / January 24, 2008)

We never actually see the title character of "Come Back, Little Sheba," that being the missing dog. As you probably guessed, the dog has symbolic value, representing the lost sexuality of Lola, an anxious, occasionally bubbly housewife and former beauty queen. It is not until the end of the play, following the near-destruction of her marriage, that Lola can finally come to terms with the fact that her youth is gone -- and so is Little Sheba. Time to move on.

Unlike other icons of mid-twentieth realistic American drama like Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill, William Inge could use a few more revivals. In the 1950s, Inge had four back-to-back hits: "Come Back, Little Sheba," "Picnic," "Bus Stop" and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs." But after four subsequent box office failures, he committed suicide in 1973. Even if the plays are creaky dramaturgically, Inge's examination of suburban life and sexual repression remains absolutely compelling.

In "Come Back, Little Sheba," the twenty-year marriage of Lola and her recovering alcoholic husband Doc is rocked when a pretty young woman invades their home as the new boarder, forcing unspoken passions to rise to the surface. Doc, who yearns for the girl, is less than thrilled to learn that she is engaging in pre-marital sex with the boy next door. Pretty soon, Doc steals a whiskey bottle and everything goes to hell.

Instead of aiming for kitchen-sink realism, Michael Pressman's excellent production uses suggestive reality to fix in on the tense triangle formed between Lola (S. Epatha Merkerson), Doc (Kevin Anderson) and sweet college gal Marie (Zoe Kazan), and their loneliness and inability to articulate their feelings.

Merkerson's performance is so fine-tuned and sensitively nuanced that no one is likely to care about the production's use of color-blind casting, which actually forces us to look beyond the play's surface. Like last year's stunning revival of "Journey's End," "Come Back Little Sheba" shows how a dated drama can occasionally blaze with theatricality and cultural resonance.

Biltmore Theatre, 261 West 47th St, 212-239-6200, $46.50-91.50. Tues 8pm, Wed 2 & 8pm, Thurs-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 2pm. Thru Mar 16.