BACK WHEN BACK THEN

The rigid definition of masculinity, and its grave consequences to men’s psyches are the play’s themes. A father and son clash violently on a set marked by ricks of domestic rubbish that threaten to topple at a touch; like the men themselves, overladen with unexamined memories and unexpressed emotions. Guilt and recrimination trigger a frightening release of pent-up energy, and the two men circle each other in turns as stalker and game. The father, crippled by sorrow for the violence of a half-lived past, commands both terror and respect, while the son, with his own demands, counters his father’s scramble for dignity.

Reviews

“BACK WHEN BACK THEN is a refreshing frank diatribe against touchy-feely psychodrama” Chad Jones, The Oakland Tribune, Oakland, September 28, 1997.

“This thunderous burst of verbal abuse is not for the faint-hearted or weary; but for those who can stomach anger on its most primal level, the ideas expressed here are both exhilarating and cathartic” BACK WHEN BACK THEN  - Ricky Spears, In Theater, New York, November 28, 1997.

Productions

Date: September-October 2000, Dublin Fringe Festival
Theater:Andrews Lane Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
Directed by: Raymond J. Barry
Cast: Raymond J. Barry, Thomas Draper
Producer: Myra Donnelley

Date: August 2000
Theater: Pallazzo Mundell, Santa Colomba, Italy
Directed by: Raymond J. Barry
Cast: Raymond J. Barry, Thomas Draper

Date: November 1997
Theater: Theatre for the New City, New York City, NY
Directed by: Martha Gehman
Cast: Raymond J. Barry, Thomas Draper

Date: October 1997
Theater: Northside Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Directed by: Martha Gehman
Cast: Raymond J. Barry, Thomas Draper

Date: March 1996
Theater: Smokebrush Center for the Arts and Theater, Colorado Springs
Directed by: Gregory Wagroski
Cast: Raymond J. Barry, Jack Black, Kim Gillingham