The Voysey Inheritance

Atlantic Theater Company

It was possible to sit there and imagine a thousand ways this play might have gone wrong. Several actors could have been terrible. The pacing could have been bad. Well, loads of things could have gone wrong, but did not. It seemed like a terribly hard play to pull off, but it worked well.

This is what I liked best about the play. I was rooting for the protagonist to do wrong. I was making moral justifications and rationalizations for him to do wrong the entire time. I thought things like, "Oh, come on, stop being such a stiff, no one will know" and "You don't really have to go to jail for this" and "At least be nice for your family and think of them." In the end the protagonist turned out being right after taking the moral high road.

This is the story of one moral hero against a whole system (in this case, his family) who is up to no good. It reminds me a bit of L.A. Confidential, except for this time it's a family, not a police force. It's very difficult to be the mole and the one who tells the truth. It certainly gains you few friends and pushes the question: which really is the better way to live? Is it better to be hated but right or popular and loved but wrong? For the average person, and I confess I am average, it is a hard question.

But, our protagonist is no average person. He is deeply unpopular, strict in his morals and ultimately pays for his convictions. Oh no, I've given it away. This is the story of a large family of siblings who are left with a problem when their beloved father dies. He has left them a firm with misappropriated funds that is actually bankrupt. The trick is that it seems that with the right management, or rather maneuvering, life could go on as it has been and no one would be the wiser. The only kink in this plan is the son who is left in charge of the business. The illegal and immoral aspect of what has been going on pushes him only to fix as best he can the damage that has been done and then later suffer the consequences, the self righteous p****.

Only, he's not self righteous. As an audience member, I really grow to like him even if I give him plenty of opportunity to do the wrong thing, opportunity to take the out. He sticks to his guns, in spite of all the opportunity and eventually pays the price, only winning the lady in the end.

The acting was quite good. Set was beautiful. Pacing was fine. Costumes were a bit over the top, but they were lovely in their own way.

I wanted to see this for months. Is it as good as I had hoped? It did not change my life. Some plays you don't actually enjoy until they over. This is the great paradox of being a theatergoer. And, this is one of those times where this is true. I left the theater with more than I realized, although I almost felt like I could have left at intermission. But, I stuck it out and I am glad I did. The characters became richer in the second act. The story more layered. And, I realized that the thoughts of the audience were part of the play. We were involved because we were rooting for the wrong side. I like it when a play gets the better of me. And, this one did. Should you go, I hope it gets the better of you and your morals, too.