![]() Cotter Smith adds a touch of gentleness and softness to Adam’s general cold demeanor.ĭue to the death of his wife and because of his military responsibilities it has become increasingly easy for Adam to become more distant from his daughter. Their inability to really hear what the other is saying and their blindness to the sacrifices they’ve both made to make this troubled father/daughter relationship work is Kin’s strongest example of two estranged people. To see an older woman desperately trying to find something or someone to live for is simultaneously touching and haunting.Īnna’s relationship with her father, Adam, is relatable yet complex (to say the least). However, most days are spent drinking away the memory of a horrific attack she fell victim to years earlier. Linda’s inability to move on from this event eventually caused her husband to leave, thus abandoning Sean and his sister without a father figure. ![]() The occasional visit from Sean and family keep Linda motivated. By the scene’s end Linda, brought to life by a superb Suzanne Bertish, has exposed her neediness, loneliness, and banishment from the church.īertish’s extraordinarily layered performance is honest, humorous and heartfelt as she (now in full light) uncovers all of Linda’s scars. In a brilliantly staged scene, Linda begins far upstage, almost in complete darkness. As soon as words like “education, ambition, and money” (all seemingly acceptable traits one would look for in a partner) are removed from Anna’s online search criteria, in walks Sean, an Irish personal trainer who is dealing with his own dark past.Ī phone call between Sean and his mother Linda, who lives in a small costal town in Ireland, brings to light shadows they both must face. Helena boldly questions Anna’s dating criteria, ultimately stating, “The very fact that there are criteria is a problem.” This discussion is the catalyst for Anna to reevaluate what she is looking for. Each scene in Kin feels like a patch on a beautifully sewn quilt, every patch revealing a necessary part of the bigger story being told.Įarly in the show, Helena, Anna’s neurotic, slightly possessive and eternally heart broken best friend, is introduced when the girls are discussing Internet dating. Sam Gold’s skillful direction and Doran’s mostly understated text effortlessly evoke time, place, and location as the play jumps from New York to Texas to North Carolina and even Ireland over the course of seven years. Doran’s nonlinear play unfold is piecing together Anna and Sean’s relationship. Have we lost the ability to actually have a heartfelt, meaningful, one-on-one conversation and truly connect with other human beings? Bathsheba Doran’s new play Kin, which opened at Playwrights Horizons on Monday, explores a multilayered relationship between Anna and Sean and their families as these broken characters all strive for one thing: real human connection. In a time when we are more connected to the world and the people around us via Internet and cell phones it can sometimes feel as if we are not connected at all.
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