Hector and Annie Nations are homesteaders in the Appalachian mountains, where the they farm more than one hundred acres. Annie takes care of the home: cooking, canning, sewing, making candles. Hector takes care of the harvest, and selling their produce. All three of their children are grown, though they might have preferred them to stay. Their son Dillard, a musician, moved out to pursue his career, though we sense some additional friction between he and his dad.
When Foxfire opens Annie is just now opening a delayed letter from Dillard saying he’ll be there today. She’s preparing a pig’s head (not a prop) for cooking. Next a developer named Prince Carpenter appears, offering an impressive sum of cash for Annie and Hector’s property. Land that has been handed down for generations. Soon, in a flashback, we see their doctor visiting to help Annie through a birth. Old Doc has to talk Hector out of some folk customs they use when a new baby is coming. Nothing especially exotic, just ineffective. All the same he’s respectful and reassuring. He gets Annie to sing to take her mind off the labor pains. An old family friend, Holly Burrell comes to visit. She and Dillard have been friends since childhood and now, she’s doing documentary research that includes the Nations family. When Dillard and she cross paths, she offers to take Annie to Dillard’s concert. With some persuading she agrees to go.
Though Foxfire didn’t feel like a musical, the program listed: “Book and Lyrics by: Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn.” And without a doubt, the pervasive, mournful, stirring Appalachian folk music was a key aspect of this drama’s experience. The salient aspect of Foxfire would seem to quash any quaint notion we might indulge of the lives of mountain folk. When Annie enlists Prince’s help in “dissecting” the pig’s head, the device is both humorous and revealing. Annie is neither Ma Kettle nor is she Olivia Walton. She’s just a normal, intelligent woman, with work to do. She may listen politely to Prince’s pitch, but she’s no pushover. She loves Dillard’s music, but, like many women her age, is not fond of loud concerts. Understandably, Annie is torn between devotion to her cantankerous husband, and Dillard, who’s merely trying to be his own man.
The contrast between the ancient folk wisdom of mountain communities, and the gentrification of urban “progress” is expressed in the unresolved antagonism between Dillard and his dad, Hector. Dillard never crosses the line into disrespect, but as he and his two siblings have learned the hard way, Hector cares more about winning than arriving at mutual truth. Cronyn and Cooper don’t stack the deck, we come to gather that while bucolic values have much to recommend them, science and industry aren’t altogether useless or corrupt. And while “civilization” may boast the appearance of sophistication, it doesn’t have all the answers.
The cast (Elly Lindsay, John S. Davies, Mark Quach, Whitney Coulter, Ian Ferguson, Stan Graner) under the direction of Emily Scott Banks was impeccable. Their performances are relaxed, involved, poignant and intuitive. Although Hector Nations is disagreeable, Davies saves him from being utterly reprehensible. Elly Lindsay’s acting is especially nuanced and touching.
Foxfire played Theatre 3 from March 14th-April 7th, 2019. 2800 Routh St, Suite 168, Dallas, Texas 75201 (214) 871-3300. www.theatre3dallas.com