Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Studio 16 (1555 West 7^th) to February 9, 2025
Tickets $15-$37 at www.mitchandmurrayproductions.com.  Sold out; wait list only.

Posted February 7, 2025

Mitch and Murray Productions, under the artistic direction of Aaron Craven, has never disappointed me but I fear I will disappoint Mitch and Murray this time around. Not with my less-than-rave review but in my unwillingness or inability to engage in Heroes of the Fourth Turning.

Doubtless, award-winning American playwright Will Arbery believes his play will help us understand the US Christian right wing but frankly the play made me more – not less – opposed to its views, various as those views might be within its ranks. The tsunami of support President Trump received and continues to receive from that particular sector has, in part, led us to the crisis we now find ourselves in.

American-style democracy, as we know it, is rapidly disappearing under the Trump/Musk leadership and it’s difficult to understand – or find patience with – the more than seventy million Americans, many of whom are Christian nationalists, who  voted for Trump.

In the play, Emily, Justin, Teresa and Kevin – graduates of a Christian college, as was the playwright – all voted for Trump in 2016 although Kevin confesses he “puked” after casting his ballot. Why did they support Trump and the Republicans while admittedly holding their nose or puking? Among the reasons they give are the Republicans’ position on abortion and their support for so-called “family values”. No diversity, no equity, no inclusion.

The characters: Emily, disabled and in pain from an unexplained ailment, believes in the Christian concept of salvation through suffering. Strong, silent-type Justin cares for Emily; they are bonded but possibly not romantically connected. Fanatical Teresa is an advocate of the Strauss-Howe generational theory that posits that every eighty years a new ‘saeculum’ is ushered in; saecula are made up of four ‘turnings’, hence the title of this play.  (From the Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movement: “According to this theory, every 80 years is a crucial ‘fourth turning’ of generations in American history. The ‘fourth turning’ is necessarily marked by a crisis that has destroyed the social order and created a new one, after which a new cycle commences. According to contemporary proponents of this theory, we are currently in the (approximately) twenty-year period of ‘crisis’ which will determine a new social order.”) Teresa, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, tries to slam this home in a very long diatribe. Kevin, who is pretty drunk from the beginning of the play to the end, really just wants a girlfriend.

This foursome has come together at Justin’s cottage to celebrate the appointment of Gina, Emily’s mother, as the new president of the college. All desperately want to be understood and to be loved but despite their common ground, there is more arguing than celebrating. It makes for an exhausting, argumentative gathering.

Negativity aside, under John Murphy’s direction, this is a powerful production of a very difficult, very wordy play. The cast is so fully-committed it’s almost painful. Elizbeth Barrett’s Emily is so fragile, so physically broken, so desperately eager to love everyone – even her God who allows her to suffer debilitating pain. Aaron Craven, as Justin, is strong and manly but unbending and  unquestioning in his faith – a macho Christian. Nyiri Karakas’ Teresa is overbearing and bullying while David Kaye, as Kevin, provides what little relief there is from all the talk, talk, talk with his inebriated antics and lack of engagement in the arguments: “I don’t understand anything you’re saying”.  Jennifer Clement, as Gina, has a terrifically challenging role full of charm laced with hypocrisy. She meets the challenge head-on.

In Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, while the characters are picnicking, they are startled by the sound of a distant breaking string, symbolic of the ending of an era. In Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Arbery thrice uses a huge, loud cataclysmic BOOM which Justin explains away as his generator although he really does not know. The parallel is obvious: things are about to change.

However,  I remained unsympathetic to Arbery’s characters and I don’t like their politics. Heroes of the Fourth Turning was not able to turn me, engage me or encourage me to dig deep enough to find empathy for these would-be ‘heroes’. I am uncertain as to whether the play is an apologia or a cautionary tale. Or both. But at a time in the theatre when there is so much that is lightweight, I applaud Mitch and Murray Productions that consistently offers exciting, provocative fare, for taking on such a difficult play. The hunger amongst Vancouver theatre-goers for relevant theatre, however challenging, is obvious: the run is sold out.