A.R. Gurney has written so many political plays lately (“O Jerusalem,” “Mrs. Farnsworth”) that it’s easy to forget that he once dealt almost exclusively with WASPs and their foibles. The Keen Company’s revival of his ’91 drama “The Old Boy” serves as a vivid, if dated, reminder of the old Gurney.
Set in the early ’90s, it concerns an emotionally charged return visit by a gubernatorial candidate, Sam (Peter Rini), to his New England prep school. There, he encounters the ghosts of his past, including Perry (Chris Dwan), the closeted gay student to whom he served as a mentor, or “old boy.”
Perry’s elderly mother, Harriet (Laura Esterman), has just made a generous contribution to the school — for an indoor tennis facility — and as Sam prepares to announce it, he learns the truth behind Perry’s death. And it was not, as Harriet says it was, because of an accidental drug overdose.
While “The Old Boy” boasts the playwright’s sharp wit — “I envy the Catholics,” says the school’s pastor. “Martin Luther made it so much more difficult when he put us in charge of our own salvation” — many of the characterizations verge on the stereotypical.
Jonathan Silverstein’s staging fails to bring much urgency to the proceedings, and some of his actors seem stiffer than their characters require.
While the play’s depiction of gays as AIDS-haunted outcasts packed a punch two decades ago, by now it feels stale. For that, at least, we can be grateful.