Reflecting after the end of Jonathan Norton’s new play, A Love Offering, it’s uncertain whether it’s meant earnestly, or ironically, or both. An elderly man (Mr. Turner) with dementia keeps his deceased wife’s brooch by his bed, where he’s living in rehab. The man’s adult children (Stewart and Josie) accuse an African American nurse (Miss Georgia) of stealing the brooch. After hundreds of years to get it right, we still know there can be no good outcome. And of course, that’s the brilliance of Norton’s play, a simple premise, yet none of the five characters emerge from this without bruises. Certainly not us.
When A Love Offering opens Josie and Stewart are talking to T’wana, Turner’s primary nurse. Her wrist is bandaged because Turner bit her. Stewart gives her a $500.00 gift card as a peace offering, even though she’s been very gracious. Mr. Turner has Alzheimer’s, so the nurses often forgive his racist and obscene epithets, dismissing them as unintentional. Before long we see Josie and Stewart are manipulating T’wana. They need a confederate to entrap Miss Georgia, whom they suspect in the disappearance of their mother’s brooch. They don’t know anything. They deceive T’wana and she finds a way to get information from her friend and mentor. Before A Love Offering reaches its wrenching conclusion, the brother and sister will press their advantage, and their lofty proclamations of altruism will blow away like dead leaves.
From a lesser playwright, A Love Offering might have felt somewhat facile, but Mr. Norton earns every crucial moment. He exposes familiar poisons so effective, so embedded in our culture, that the characters can’t resist using them. But they’re also not immune. They know actual guilt isn’t a currency that’s worth much. What might have come down to mere melodrama becomes thunder in Norton’s (and the performers) hands. Stewart and Josie make you feel embarrassed to be white. Why in 2019, do people of their ilk still wield so much leverage? Please understand, like all the most remarkable plays, A Love Offering doesn’t waste time pointing fingers. It simply reveals the ridiculously simple truth. Lies are all about traction. They may seem to secure what you want, but they always come at a price. When you live in a world where pettiness and cynicism thrive, it’s only a matter of time till we all turn on each other.
Kitchen Dog Theater presents the world premiere of Jonathan Norton’s A Love Offering, playing October 3rd-27th, 2019. 2600 N. Stemmons Fwy, Suite 180, Dallas, Texas 75207. (214) 953-1055.