In these sharply divisive American times, political and social conservatives are often depicted by satirists as ignorant redneck slobs or as icy masters of the universe.
The characters in Heroes of the Fourth Turning certainly are conservative white people, but they are neither hillbillies nor one-percenters. They are among the alumni of a small Catholic liberal arts college in Wyoming, some half a dozen years since their graduation, who have returned to celebrate their favorite professor’s elevation to the presidency of the institution.
The playwright, Will Arbery, does not present a story here so much as a two hour-long situation (performed without an intermission) where his five characters can frankly express their thoughts.
It is a chilly late night during the summer of 2017 and a party is winding down at a modest house somewhere in the boonies owned by Justin (Jeb Kreager), a former Marine sharpshooter. Several remaining guests join him in the backyard, where they await the overdue arrival of Gina (Michele Pawk), their cherished professor.
A woeful fellow in the midst of a sloppy drunk, Kevin (John Zdrojeski) questions his faith and future even as he wonders whether he might be a “holy fool” whose antics could reach out to the liberal “other side.”
A sharply contrasting figure is Teresa (Zoë Winters), sleekly dressed in lily-whites, a very smart, very fast-talking Christian hardliner who foresees a civil war and apparently even relishes the thought. In one of the play’s few references to the current U.S. president, Teresa observes, “Trump is a golem molded from the clay of mass media and he’s come to save us all.”
Then there is Emily (Julia McDermott), Gina’s daughter, a sweet-natured semi-invalid who suffers from an unnamed but obviously painful malady. Unwilling to demonize liberal friends but vaguely faithful to her Christian roots, Emily might even symbolize the nation’s currently conflicted body politic. The watchful Justin, who packs a pistol in his belt and is frequently hidden in the shadows beyond the porch lights, may represent conservative masses yet to assert themselves.
When Gina finally arrives, she is revealed to be a cool and articulate Catholic thinker who confidently strives for a gradual reversion to traditional social values.
The title of the play is derived from the characters’ discussion regarding The Fourth Turning, a 1997 book that explicates the notion of a recurring four-fold generational cycle of rising and falling culture in American history, each stage of which lasts about 20 years. A theory endorsed by Steve Bannon, it depicts the fourth and final chapter of the cycle as a time of crisis and revolution.
Teresa heatedly argues that now is the period of crisis and her millennial generation will be the fighters in the culture wars over abortion rights, sexual mores, and similar social issues.
With its relative lack of plot and predominance of dialogue, it’s likely that certain viewers will dismiss Heroes of the Fourth Turning as a talky bore. Still, Arbery composes fluent conversation that smoothly delivers various fine points of conservative belief that Fox News scarcely mentions. There further is a distinctly chilling edge to Arbery’s cautionary study that cannot be ignored.
Both the playwright and Danya Taymor, the director, collaborating with their designers, cunningly heighten the atmospherics to produce an unsettling effect as the scarcely empathetic characters struggle to remain true to themselves and their faith.
An ear-shattering metallic screech sporadically interrupts the proceedings—Justin explains that it is a problem with the generator—but likely the noise signifies how people drown out opposing beliefs with their own clamor. Justin Ellington, the sound designer, also aptly renders summer nighttime murmurs that are occasionally pierced by a distant report of gunfire. Designer Laura Jellinek’s stark setting for a shadowy backyard out in the middle of nowhere is lighted dimly with a subtly eerie beauty by Isabella Byrd.
As so often is the case with Playwrights Horizons, which produces this world premiere that opened on Monday, the excellent design values are matched by exceptional acting. Under Taymor’s guidance, the actors provide fine natural performances of remarkable, finally harrowing, intensity.
A thoughtful, subtly satiric look at educated individuals of faith who desire to return America to the fundamental values of yesteryear, Heroes of the Fourth Turning may well annoy and even infuriate some viewers. Bottom line, the play gave me the creeps—which no doubt is a valid reaction, too.
