Resentments, Perceptions and Racism Swirl in Ultimate Family Dysfunction of Appropriate

A quiet family disagreement in GableStage’s production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate (Photos by Magnus Stark)

By Bill Hirschman

Imagine a half-dozen out-of-control freight trains howling and careening toward each other – a rough metaphor for the emotional collision after collision of egos and anger in the epic family dysfunctional play, Appropriate, receiving an outstanding production at GableStage.

Sometimes this season you wonder if your standards have weakened because this, once again, underscores that the consistent quality of South Florida theater is arguably the equal of the high-profile regional theaters in the country.

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins swirls long-neglected relationships cradling nursed resentments, buried racism in a family’s past, the way time affects perceptions, anti-Semitism passed through generations, and a deteriorating dust-clogged plantation awash in cicada trills and ghostly sounds as if the Arkansas manse itself is breathing shallowly.

With the death of the patriarch, the various arms of the all-white Lafayette family have reunited for the first time in quite a while with the desire of jettisoning the decayed tumbledown property, but with secreted ideas of what to do with the proceeds. Worse, how to dispose of land still dotted with the graves of slaves?

The unsettling, upsetting discovery of one of the father’s previously unknown possessions among the piles catapults the dilemma into the void.

Over three hours (with an intermission), the family blasts away with naturalistic rapid-fire machine-gun dialogue, often overlapping yet always clear as crystal. It’s doubtful you will feel bored at any time; you might even welcome the slower periods as a respite.

Every artist connected to this production has brought their A-game starting with the direction of GableStage’s Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport who stages the complex journey with such skill, pacing and insight. Just one visual example is how she moves people over, under and in furniture.

But she has a cast creating unique and memorable characters. Top of the list is Rachel Burttram as Toni, the divorced, acerbic, alcoholic control freak of a sister trying to keep this assemblage temporarily operational. But what is amazing is that creature is played by the same actress who inhabited the upper-class heroine in GableStage’s A Doll’s House, Part 2.

But she heads colleagues who are equally impressive.

Mark H. Dold leads Natalie Donahue McMahon, left, and Rachael Burttram, right

Mark H. Dold (previously in GableStage’s The Lehman Trilogy) is Beauregard “Bo,” the next younger brother, who has brought in tow his wife Rachael (Suzanne Ankrum), teenage daughter Cassidy (Cecile Etzbach) and young Ainsley (Lorenzo Garcia.) Toni’s older teenage son Rhys (Brando Lafleur) drifts through. Finally, there is the younger black sheep Franz (Tony Larkin) and his sort of hippie-ish young fiancée River (Natalie Donahue McMahon).

The cast makes all of these characters both individualistic and yet connected to each other like an ensemble of leading actors.

The design artists apply their imagination to create a world shifting with atmospheres, created with such detail as stuffing abandoned Washington, D.C., and Arkansas car license plates among the breathtaking array of life detritus covering the living room extending across GableStage’s lengthy but shallow playing space. From the moment you enter, you are greeted by a bottomless jumble of board games, lamps with decorative covers, cluttered shelves with items waiting to be auctioned, and over the audience’s heads looms a huge long-dead chandelier.

Therefore, kudos are due Scenic Designer Frank J Oliva, Lighting Designer Tony Galaska, Production Designer Jamie Godwin, Costume Designer Lorena Lopez, Sound Designer Sean McGinley, Set Dresser/Props Designers Marcela Paguaga and Emily K. Perdomo. Plus well-deserved nods to Stage Manager Amy Rauchwerger and assistant Emily Chavez.

Jacobs-Jenkins’ play  Everybody and Gloria were finalists for the 2016 and 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Appropriate bowed at Actors Theatre of Louisville during the Humana Festival in Louisville 2013 which this critic saw. Appropriate served as his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2023. His additional plays include An Octoroon, which was produced by Miami’s Area Stage in 2017, and  Gloria at Gablestage in 2018.

A last word of advice: There comes a scene we will not spoil at the very end after all of the characters have left the stage. Do not leave. The play is not over.

Appropriate plays through Feb. 23 at GableStage, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables. Performances 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday. Boxoffice@gablestage.org ot call (305) 445-1119