Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities is a family drama blended with biting wit. Set in what is clearly an upscale home in sun-drenched Palm Springs, the play centers on Brooke Wyeth (Dawn Cantwell), a published liberal writer recovering from a breakdown, as she returns home to her conservative Republican parents. The purpose of her visit is to announce the publication of her memoir—a book that threatens to expose long-buried family secrets. Not surprisingly, her mother, Polly (Lois Robbins) and her father, Lyman (Bruce Sabath) are dead set against it. On the other hand, her brother Trip (Luke Wehner), thinks it’s the best work she has ever done. Her Aunt Silda (Susan J. Jacks), unapologeticly liberal, encourages her to get it published.
These opposite ideologies create friction, which creates heat. When it gets hot enough they will explode….and they do! But this play, so beautifully directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, never gets bogged down into the quicksand of a family melodrama. Kept at a brisk pace, it is spiked with dialogue that crackles with sharp wit. Polly Wyeth, the fiercely protective matriarch, quips, “Brooke, darling, if you insist on writing about the family, at least make me taller.” Polly’s sister, Silda, fires back with, “Polly, you were tall once—before life shrank you into a Republican.” The exchanges between these characters are often very funny, yet fueled, in varying degrees by the true nature of emotions like sadness, bitterness and anger.
The rock-solid performances elevate the script’s already strong emotional depth. Polly and Brooke’s fiery confrontations, honestly acted by Ms. Robbins and Ms. Cantwell, provide the play’s core, The outcome of the battle between Polly’s steely resolve clashing against Brooke’s vulnerability and determination feels right and satisfying. Luke Wehner’s pragmatic Trip and Ms. Jacks’ ever-entertaining Silda, balance the intensity with moments of genuine levity and warmth.
The set, designed by Jimmy Cuomo, tops his works as one of the best designs seen on that stage. The home is so realistically rich and elegant in appearance that I put in a bid on the property. The lighting, by Moira Wilkie beautifully compliments the set with showers of desert sunshine.
With its sharp writing, layered performances, and tense atmosphere, getting tickets to this production of “Other Desert Cities” should be on your to-do list. It is a deeply-engaging exploration of family, secrets, and how our past can shape our future!
“Other Desert Cities” plays through May 4, 2025 at CVRep’s theatre (the old IMAX) in Cathedral City. For tickets or more information visit their site at Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities is a family drama blended with biting wit. Set in what is clearly an upscale home in sun-drenched Palm Springs, the play centers on Brooke Wyeth (Dawn Cantwell), a published liberal writer recovering from a breakdown, as she returns home to her conservative Republican parents. The purpose of her visit is to announce the publication of her memoir—a book that threatens to expose long-buried family secrets. Not surprisingly, her mother, Polly (Lois Robbins) and her father, Lyman (Bruce Sabath) are dead set against it. On the other hand, her brother Trip (Luke Wehner), thinks it’s the best work she has ever done. Her Aunt Silda (Susan J. Jacks), unapologeticly liberal, encourages her to get it published.
These opposite ideologies create friction, which creates heat. When it gets hot enough they will explode….and they do! But this play, so beautifully directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, never gets bogged down into the quicksand of a family melodrama. Kept at a brisk pace, it is spiked with dialogue that crackles with sharp wit. Polly Wyeth, the fiercely protective matriarch, quips, “Brooke, darling, if you insist on writing about the family, at least make me taller.” Polly’s sister, Silda, fires back with, “Polly, you were tall once—before life shrank you into a Republican.” The exchanges between these characters are often very funny, yet fueled, in varying degrees by the true nature of emotions like sadness, bitterness and anger.
The rock-solid performances elevate the script’s already strong emotional depth. Polly and Brooke’s fiery confrontations, honestly acted by Ms. Robbins and Ms. Cantwell, provide the play’s core, The outcome of the battle between Polly’s steely resolve clashing against Brooke’s vulnerability and determination feels right and satisfying. Luke Wehner’s pragmatic Trip and Ms. Jacks’ ever-entertaining Silda, balance the intensity with moments of genuine levity and warmth.
The set, designed by Jimmy Cuomo, tops his works as one of the best designs seen on that stage. The home is so realistically rich and elegant in appearance that I put in a bid on the property. The lighting, by Moira Wilkie beautifully compliments the set with showers of desert sunshine.
With its sharp writing, layered performances, and tense atmosphere, getting tickets to this production of “Other Desert Cities” should be on your to-do list. It is a deeply-engaging exploration of family, secrets, and how our past can shape our future!
“Other Desert Cities” plays through May 4, 2025 at CVRep’s theatre (the old IMAX) in Cathedral City. For tickets or more information visit their site at www.cvrep.org
Photo credits: David A. Lee