Play narrows widening gap

The generation gap was confusing enough where there were only two main ones but these days there’s four or five.
Even those supposedly close together, Gen X and Gen Y, have been supplanted by the millennials, or generation next, while the poor old baby boomers don’t get any of it.
But there is hope, in the form of feisty Jewish grandmother Vera who has some sage observations for her troubled 21 year-old grandson Leo.
The pair swaps generational lines in 4000 miles, the second cab off the rank in the 2016 Geelong Performing Arts Centre season.
The touching and poignant tale, written by one of America’s brightest playwrights, Amy Herzog, explores the funny, frustrating, and ultimately life-changing relationship between a grandson learning to face his life and a grandmother who is starting to forget hers.
The young Leo rocks up unannounced at the Manhattan apartment of his 91-year-old Jewish grandmother.
Having broken up with his girlfriend and cycled across the country, he needs a place to crash for the night, no questions asked.
But Vera – prickly, stubborn and sharp as a tack – isn’t about to let him off that easily.
As an overnight couch-surf turns into an extended stay, 4000 Miles unearths a surprising parallel between these two generations in this emotionally compelling drama.
With disarming frankness and surprising candour, the two negotiate social potholes and trace emotional fault lines that link them to a painful family history.
The play won the 2012 Obie Award for Best New Play and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013.
This production is a collaboration between independent theatre company Critical Stages, with MopHead and Catnip Productions, directed by Anthony Skuse.
The cast includes Aileen Hunynh, Diana McLean, Stephen Multari and Eloise Snape.
4000 Miles is on from 2 to 5 March in the Drama Theatre. Tickets are between $20 and $57 available at gpac.org.au or phone 5225 1200.