A play about attempts to overcome a strained relationship between a man and his father will start off the new year at PowPAC.
“I Never Sang For My Father” opens Jan. 3 and runs through Jan. 26.
The play focuses on Gene Garrison (played by Steve Murdock) and his elderly father Tom (Jim Clevenger) who must make decisions about Tom’s care following the sudden death of Gene’s mother.
An added complication is that Gene, a widower, has recently found love again and was planning to move across the country to be with his girlfriend right before his mother died.
“I’ve been advocating for this over the last few years,” said Linda Englund, who is co-directing the play with Julia Smith. “It is a favorite of mine and after we did ‘Ordinary People’ (last season) saw some receptiveness for good drama that our audience can identify with.”
Smith said she was not familiar with the play or the 1970 film of the same name until Englund suggested it.
“I am a frequent reader of plays, it was a popular movie in the ‘70s and it immediately resonated with me,” Smith said. “It is a family drama that revolves around relationships with family navigating the different seasons of life.
“The conflict immediately drew me to the piece,” Smith added.
While the play is staged as if it was taking place over 50 years ago, Englund said it will resonate with today’s audience because its theme of sandwich generation is a reality so many are experiencing now.
“At the time the play was written, in the late ‘60s, no one heard of the sandwich generation,” Englund said. “But those who are middle-aged are finding themselves responsible for a marriage, children and aging parents who need more of their time. The issue is how to balance obligations and responsibilities for the people they love and manage to have a life of your own. … A lot of people out there are dealing with it … so people can say, ‘This is my life.’”
Englund and Smith are pulling double duty in this play as both are not only directing, but acting in it. They said the partnership works because Englund only appears in Act 1, which Smith directs, and Smith is on stage for Act 2, when Englund takes over directing responsibilities.
“Linda and I get along well, have ing roles and are not in scenes together,” Smith said. “On the dramaturgy we worked together as a partnership with staging, scenery and studying characters.”
Englund said it helps that she and Smith are friends and “our way to approach directing complements each other and is not in the same way, so we make a good team. Julia is incredible and I am in awe to have her .”
The play also has a “neat dynamic” in that Maisy and Spencer Farmer, whom she called a “well-known” couple in the San Diego theater community, play all the ing roles of characters such as hospital personnel or restaurant staff, Smith said.
“They rotate through of the community in quick succession, so it is fun to watch their radically (different characters),” she said.
The co-directors said they are not the only ones wearing multiple hats — all the cast are involved with various aspects, such as set building and design.
“We are a tight community and fortunate to have so many talented people,” Smith said of Poway’s community theater in the midst of its 43rd season.
“I Never Sang For My Father” can be seen at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. on Sundays and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 and 25 from Jan. 3 through Jan. 26 at PowPAC on the second level of the Lively Center, 13250 Poway Road. There is an elevator in back for those wanting to avoid the stairs.
Tickets are $26 for adults; $24 for seniors (60-plus), students and active duty military; and $22 for groups of 10 or more. Buy at powpac.org or the box office at 858-679-8085 or [email protected].
PowPAC patrons can reserve for free to borrow an EXMAX listening device during the show by presenting a current photo ID.
