If the line “What shall we hang, the holly or each other?” hadn’t already been taken by The Lion In Winter, it would make a fitting quip stuffed somewhere in Leslye Headland’s deliriously cutting Cult of Love, opening tonight on Broadway.
Granted, this dysfunctional family holiday is already stuffed to the garlanded mantlepiece with emotional jabs and explosive resentments, but one more well-honed jibe couldn’t hurt. It’s that kind of play.
A Second Stage Theater production steered like a fast-moving sleigh by director Trip Cullman, Cult Of Love boasts an excellent cast (headed by Zachary Quinto, Mare Winningham, David Rasche and, in an impressive Broadway debut, Star Wars: The Acolyte‘s Rebecca Henderson) that pulls off a familiar scenario with unexpected freshness.
The place is a beautiful Connecticut farmhouse decorated to a Christmas fare-thee-well (John Lee Beatty designed the gorgeous set, with Heather Gilbert contributing the festive lighting), the time is Christmas Eve and the Dahl family is of the variety that comes together grudgingly and toting more animosity than gifts.
Part of a series of Headland plays devoted to the seven deadly sins, Cult Of Love gets the honor of pridefulness, and that particular transgression makes itself known in every deliciously holier-than-thou attitude each member of this raised-Christian family brings to the party.
For starters, there’s mom Ginny (Winningham) and dad Bill (Rasche), who have raised their four kids in a strict, socially isolated suburban Christian home. Bill is the more easygoing of the two, to the point of being detached (and, it is suspected, experiencing early signs of dementia). Ginny is controlling, demanding of surface perfection and not-so-subtly judgmental (think Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People via August: Osage County.)
And Ginny has lots to hang her judgements on. Eldest son Mark (Quinto) has been a black sheep ever since ditching plans of the priesthood for law school (and atheism). He’s married to Rachel (Molly Bernard), formerly of the Jewish faith, now converted to Christianity but no more a true believer than her husband. Her go-along-to-get-along demeanor has settled into a boiling resentment at the family’s barely disguised anti-semitism.
The cast of ‘Cult Of Love’
Joan Marcus
Next up is Evie (Henderson) and her (secretly) pregnant wife Pippa (Roberta Colindrez). Mom Ginny chooses to believe that Evie isn’t really gay, despite all evidence to the contrary, but the overt homophobia is left to youngest Dahl daughter Diana (Shailene Woodley) and her preacher husband James (Christopher Lowell), neither of whom can resist talk of hellfire and damnation couched in loving concern.
Finally, there’s the late-to-the-party Johnny (Christopher Sears), a free-spirited recovering heroin addict who brings along his fellow 12-stepper Loren (Barbie Ferreira), the outsider and truth-teller whose appalled at the hateful religious vitriol spewed by Diana.
Indeed, the tongues-speaking, self-proclaimed prophet Diana is the primary pot-stirrer of the family, even as it becomes all too clear that her religiosity masks some serious (though, in the writing, not altogether convincing) psychosis.
Headland, the Russian Doll co-creator and Star Wars: The Acolyte creator making her Broadway debut with Cult Of Love, is adept at keeping the dialogue crisp, funny and fast-moving, even if the pile-up of personalities, crises, conflicts and very hard feelings grows schematic and a bit predictable. While Cult Of Love lacks the awesome power of, say, last season’s family reunion drama Appropriate, it certainly has the strength of its convictions (and occasional compassions), and maintains our interest from start to finish.
Only in the well-performed musical interludes – this is a family that never met an instrument it couldn’t strum or drum – does Cult Of Love feel in need of some editing. The family’s Christmas carol harmonizing makes for a lovely metaphor for the familial perfection so desired by mom and dad (and the inclusion of songs by Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens is a nice touch) but the grudging participation by some of the clan might reflect some impatience among at least part of the audience. As captivating as Cult Of Love can be, it can also feel as insistent as a picture-perfect mother.
Title: Cult Of Love
Venue: Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater
Written By: Leslye Headland
Directed By: Trip Cullman
Cast: Molly Bernard, Roberta Colindrez, Barbie Ferreira, Rebecca Henderson, Christopher Lowell, Zachary Quinto, David Rasche, Christopher Sears, Mare Winningham, Shailene Woodley
Running time: 1 hr 45 min (no intermission)
