The Huntington’s Superb Musical ‘Fun Home’ Plumbs Memories and Memoirs

Caleb Levin, Odin Vega, Lyla Randall in ‘Fun Home’ at the Huntington. Photos by Marc J Franklin

‘Fun Home’ — Music by Jeanine Tesori. Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron. Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Directed by Logan Ellis. At the Huntington Theatre, Huntington Ave., Boston through Dec. 14.

By Shelley A. Sackett

In less capable hands, the multiple Tony Award-winning Fun Home, at the Huntington through Dec. 14, could have been a disaster. Adapted from Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir, the storyline follows a family’s journey through sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, grief, loss, and lesbian Bechdel’s complicated relationship with her tightly closeted father. To boot, the title refers to the family funeral parlor, where her father worked and she and her siblings played.

Doesn’t sound like the raw material for one of the year’s outstanding Boston area productions? Think again.

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Wellesley Rep’s Road to Wellsville

Sebastian Ryder/Lisa Foley in “Well”
(Photos by Helen Makadia Photography)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Well’ Written by Lisa Kron. Directed by Marta Rainer. Set Design by David Towlun; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Graham Edmonson; Presented by Wellesley Repertory Theatre at the Ruth Nagel Jones Theatre, 106 Central St, Wellesley through February 10

Is there anyone out there with an uncomplicated relationship with their parents? I mean truly uncomplicated from start to finish, birth to death, with no issues to work out or grudges held onto. Mazel tov to any of you who might have answered yes, but I remain skeptical that such a thing is possible. Even the Lorelai’s of Gilmore Girls managed to have their ups and downs over seven seasons of television. And in the real world, an entire self-help industry has risen dedicated to helping you work through the (supposed) damage your parents have inflicted on you. It seems that we all have at least one thing to wrestle with. If you want a window into how someone else is dealing with their own parental neuroses, Wellesley Repertory Theatre is currently presenting Lisa Kron’s play, Well. The play purports to be about Kron’s relationship with her own mother, but if anything it proves that our view of the ties to our parents are nothing more than a Rorschach test. At the end of the day, they say more about us than about them.

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