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COMING HOME @ THE FOUNTAIN THEATRE
By Mike Buzzelli
06/23/2009
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 Veronica Jonkers (Deidrie Henry), with her little boy in tow, returns to the Karoo region of South Africa in West Coast premiere of Athol Fugard’s Coming Home. It’s a physical and spiritual journey for the prodigal daughter, weary from the sad events of her life.
When she arrives at the ramshackle cottage, a Hokkie in South African parlance, she remembers her fond childhood growing up there, neatly parsing out just enough information about her life to make the audience fall in love with her.
Not long after she arrives, Veronica’s old friend Alfred Witbooi (Thomas Silcott) shows up on the doorstep. Witbooi is a simple man with a giant heart. His enthusiasm for Veronica’s arrival is contagious. With a broad smile, he asks all about Veronica’s fantastic life in Cape Town, but she is reluctant to share any news. She does, however, introduce him to her five-year old son Mannetjie (Timothy Taylor).
Alfred coaxes Veronica into singing. She stands on a wooden box and sings into a spatula. It is a joyous reunion, but a short-lived one. It’s not long after reminiscing about old times, that Veronica reveals her reason for moving back into her father’s home. The tragic circumstances of her return is heart rending, but Veronica is a determined young woman.
 Her father (Aldophus Ward) has passed on before her return to their ancestral home, but whether he appears as memory, ghost or something else entirely is for the audience to decipher.
Fugard is on top of his game here. It’s a meticulously tight play. The writing is crisp, focused, funny and melancholy. He masterfully pulls at heart strings without making the audience feel manipulated.
The cast is brilliant. Henry is a dynamic performer. She is strong as an actor and singer. When she sings it’s glorious. Silcott is marvelous as well. Luckily, the gifted actors are evenly matched, because the majority of the play rests on their talented shoulders.
 There is a five year stretch in the play and Mannetjie is played by Taylor at age five and by Matthew Elam at age ten. Taylor is adorable (stay for the final bow, Taylor finally gets to smile, and it’s a huge happy smile of a really cute unpretentious child actor…you’ll want to hug him).
Ten year old Mannetjie has a meatier role and Elam handles it with ease. Even though, Taylor and Elam don’t look anything alike, it’s a beautiful casting choice.
It would be important to mention dialect coach JB Blanc for his ability to instill the actors with their South African sound. Set designer Laura Fine Hawkes does a magnificent job creating the gritty South African Hokkie.
Director Stephen Sachs has a handful of Ovation awards and several other impressive merits and achievements; it should be no surprise to anyone in the audience of this compelling production.
Coming Home is about love, hope and dreams. Sometimes the dream dies. Things don’t always go the way we planned. Yet, amid the death of dreams, the decay of the flesh and the heartbreak of a devastating illness, there is hope.
There is only one tiny flaw. The theatre is allegedly air-conditioned, however, at the Sunday matinee it was Africa hot.
Fugard is a staple at the Fountain Theatre, probably because of the exceptional acting, directing and set designs. With luck, Fugard will always be coming home to the Fountain.
--Mike Buzzelli
(Coming Home runs at the Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA from June 20 – August 29)
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