Review!

On Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending the opening performance of Like Home, written by the beautiful and talented Jennifer Mattern, and expertly directed by her charming husband, David Lane. Having read much of Jenn’s work, I expected it to be good. My expectations were far exceeded.

It is impossible not to connect with each of the characters in the play – sometimes they’re obnoxious, sometimes they’re enlightening…they made me laugh and touched my heart. And it’s no wonder that the audience can relate to each of these characters. They are skilfully portrayed by the Main Street Stage company, many of whom are blood-related, and all of whom are friends.

The six characters in the story are all searching for something, and the audience is taken on the journey which is sometimes heartbreaking, often beautiful, and always real.

Jenn’s fabulous sense of humour is blatantly apparent throughout the play, and the hilarious parts of the story (just try not to laugh when Jose recites his first poem. I challenge you!) perfectly balance out the emotional parts. In my book, it takes pure talent to simultaneously make someone pee their pants laughing and make them think deep thoughts. Similarly, Jenn has somehow managed the daunting task of capturing the beauty in tragedy. The subtle messages this story teaches don’t feel like lessons…they feel like personal discoveries.
Even those who aren’t looking for the deeper meanings of this story will come away thoroughly satisfied. The frequent laughs and seamless storyline put the audience at ease and make them hungry for more.

For me, the greatest part of the night (besides being able to meet the playwright and director in person) was being able to walk away with the feeling that, though the characters in this play lost so much, they did end up each finding “home.” It just wasn’t where they thought it would be.
If you can get to North Adams, Massachusetts, get to this play. It’s so worth it.