John Nobel                                                                                                                           photos by CAROL ROSEGG

The Substance of Fire

By Joel Benjamin

An air of doom permeates the ivory tower of Geldhart Book Publishers.   This small publishing house, the bone of contention in Jon Robin Baitz’s The Substance of Fire, is near bankruptcy.  Isaac Geldhart, the intellectually hidebound publisher a paterfamilias, insists on producing only the most esoteric works, particularly those dealing with the Holocaust while his son Aaron wants to inject some much needed cash into the balance sheet by publishing a novel by a popular young author.  Isaac refuses to let this happen.  Aaron has enlisted his sister Sarah and brother Martin to back him up, even asking them to give him power-of-attorney over their stock holdings so that he will have a majority.  The power struggle ends bitterly with the entire nature of the publishing house changing radically, mostly due to Isaac’s intransigent, but intellectually understandable stubbornness.    

 

Isaac belittles his children calling Martin a gardener when he is a brilliant landscape architect and Aaron a bookkeeper when he is the business manager of the publishing house.  As for his daughter Sarah, an actress in a children’s TV show he considers her a “clown for hire,” even though she is clearly someone on the rise in her field.  It is clear that he has distorted his children’s lives with his dictatorial behavior.

 

Charlayne Woodard and John Noble

The second act takes place in Isaac’s beautiful Gramercy Park apartment.  At the insistence of his children he is visited by a psychiatric social worker who is there to evaluate him.  His relationship with this government employee is not what it seems.  Lurking in the background is Martin who is clearly not well.  He is seen coughing up blood as the curtain comes down.

 

Baitz’s use of language and innuendo is astonishing in its literacy and sharp understanding of each character’s idiosyncrasies.   This hot house of a family business becomes a microcosm, a tempest in a tribal teacup that resonates with the audience despite the specificity of the situation.  He is enormously helped by a bravura cast.  Halley Feiffer captures the slightly bewildered personality of Sarah who clearly has always felt that she was the intellectual outcast of the group.  Daniel Eric Gold’s Martin was clearly the little-boy-lost, the genius who couldn’t handle the complexities of the world.  The reasons for his self-imposed exile from New York City are written on his slightly hang-dog face.  Carter Hudson’s arrogant Aaron looked like a forlorn little boy in his business suit.  Watching him get stronger as he gained the support of his siblings was wonderful.  As Marge, the social worker, Charlayne Woodard brought a dignity to her verbal grappling with Isaac.  As the imperious Isaac, John Noble was close to perfect, capturing both the nobility and the insecurity of this man with an awful past.  And, he got the accent right, making even his profanities somehow charming.

 

Trip Cullman directed this fine cast with a feel for mood and timing.  He kept the play from becoming claustrophobic by moving the characters in clever ways that explored Anna Louizos elegantly realistic sets.

 

Emily Rebholz’s costumes were the icing on the cake, helping the actors inhabit their characters.

 

The Substance of Fire is dark and even depressing, but it also illuminates all the undercurrents of a very verbal, intelligent family.  Watching them is fascinating, especially in this first class revival.

The Substance of Fire (through May 25, 2014)

Second Stage Theatre

405 West 43^rd St. (between 8^th & 9^th Aves.)

New York, NY

Tickets and Information:  212-246-4422 or www.2ST.com

Running time:  2 hours 5 minutes with one intermission.