Ben Brantley’s review of “The Inheritance” drew more than 100 comments, signaling the strong reactions engendered by the show. (One reader called the play “pompous, elitist, superficial” and “magnetically entertaining” all at once.) Did the show’s impact vary by generation? We put that question to readers of our theater newsletter. An edited selection of their responses follows. (You can subscribe to the free newsletter here).
I’ve never felt so personally connected to a play as I did watching this, particularly Part One. I saw myself and many friends in the characters, and as a 57-year-old who tested positive for H.I.V. at 27, I found the focus on the epidemic cathartic and evocative. It was also nice to feel so “seen,” since gay men, particularly white gay men, are sometimes vilified within the L.G.B.T.Q. community these days, accused of not being woke enough fast enough. DENNIS EDWARDS, Miami
While beautifully staged and acted, there is not enough there for six hours of theater, at least for an American audience. So much of the material has been done before — “Torch Song Trilogy,” “The Normal Heart,” “The Boys in the Band”— that the first play almost appears to be a revival. Part Two brings us to the present day, but does not and cannot bring us to conclusion. MARY LOU WINNICK, Longboat Key, Fla.
As a gay millennial, I’ve never felt a piece of theater heal something in me and break me at the same time the way “The Inheritance” did. The storytelling reaffirms that less is more in an age when more is monotony. RYAN HAMMAN, Chicago
I’m a 31-year-old gay man, and I was interested in seeing the production based on word of mouth and the reviews from the West End. In the end, I had mixed feelings. I enjoyed the play when it was telling the story of Eric and Toby’s crumbling relationship, and was less interested in didactic scenes where the play felt to be in conversation with itself about (to me) well-known history and complaints about “young gays these days.” The end of Part One gave me hope, but Part Two felt to be more of the same: a mostly white, mostly handsome, 30-something perspective. While it was moving to be in a theater with many gay men a bit older than myself who seemed incredibly touched by the play, it didn’t work on me in the same way. KARL HINZE, New York
I am a 47-year-old woman from Texas. I was captivated from start to finish, even given the length. As someone who was young and not part of the community impacted by AIDS, I didn’t fully grasp the breadth of the suffering. As a mother, I was especially moved by Margaret’s telling of how she came to work at Walter’s home. Most parents can relate to saying things that they later regret and worry about the damage done by their words and actions. AMY HUFFORD, Austin, Tex.
Seeing “The Inheritance,” I felt a renewed imperative to open myself to love and to give my love to others, as tricky and scary and messy as that can be. It was no abstract, hypothetical power that the play exercised, either. It has had a direct effect on actions that I’ve taken since I saw it. I can’t say that for the vast majority of theater I have seen. JOSEPH MEDEIROS, New York
I’m part of the generation of gay men who survived the worst of the AIDS crisis, and frankly I was unprepared for the depth of feeling the play would generate in me. The end of Part One took my breath away, and, as the lights came up, a gentleman two rows ahead of mine turned back to the young men behind him and introduced himself, saying he just felt like he should “say hello, because of the play.” I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that in a Broadway, or any, theater. I won’t forget that moment. HARRY ALTHAUS, New York
I found it especially poignant to watch while living through our present-day predicament, a society that continues to carve us up based on identity, age, race, preference. Instead, “The Inheritance” shows us how connected we all truly are — and urges us never to lose sight of that connectedness, because in the end we are all just humans looking for a purpose, something to fight for, someone to love. RACHEL DiSALVO, New York
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
