Nina Metz

Compared with his stylishly arch comedies, Noel Coward's "This Happy Breed," a somber drama about a middle-class family making do in a London suburb, feels like the work of an entirely different playwright--someone, actually, who would seem to have much in common with "Vera Drake" film director Mike Leigh. The intricacies of postwar British life--and all the cramped details of a middle-class home--are the focus of both the Coward play (post-World War I) and the Leigh film (post-World War II). But whereas "Vera Drake" is atmospheric--the film's algae-green-grayness nearly swallows you whole--TimeLine Theatre's well-acted, though awkwardly staged, revival of "This Happy Breed" holds you at a distance. That may have something to do with Tom Burch's in-the-round scenic design that approximates (intentionally or not) the feeling that you are spying on this family through a window in their home. No matter where you sit, something in that house is blocking your view--be it the furniture, the fireplace, a lamp or a framed photograph. This is director Nick Bowling's one misstep; with a cast like this one, nothing should obscure the performances. Particularly that of Dana Black (with her killer mocha-chocolate voice) as Queenie, the social-climbing daughter whose flimsy hauteur is both relatable and just plain old sad. Kathleen Ruhl makes the most of her small part as the immovable crank of a grandmother. And the button-downed parental tag team of Terry Hamilton and Isabel Liss form the bedrock of this production--especially Hamilton who fully embodies the kind of friendly chap who is happiest when he comes home tipsy one night with his best pal and they make themselves a snack of biscuits and fish paste. Now that's England.

"This Happy Breed" plays at TimeLine Theatre, 615 West Wellington, (773)281-8463, through December 19.

(2004-11-09)

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