THEATER REVIEW : Silver Rattles Old Family Skeletons in ‘Pterodactyls’

Many a playwright has written about his family. Some revisit childhood scenes with a probing sense of guilt and remorse.

Others reinvent happier times; still others go back to settle scores. Eugene O’Neill managed all three. But Nicky Silver goes a step further than even O’Neill could have imagined.

In “Pterodactyls,” an audacious black comedy having its West Coast debut at South Coast Repertory, Silver gives us a prodigal son, Todd Duncan (James Parks), whose return home destroys his mother, father, sister and her fiance. Todd does more damage than Oedipus or Orestes, but that’s not what sets “Pterodactyls” apart.

The Duncans, a brittle and slightly hysterical Main Line Philadelphia family, in their heart of hearts all actually agree with the playwright’s assessment: They would be better off dead. Todd just helps them see that.

Todd comes home for the first time in five years because he has AIDS. First question: Why?

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His spoiled, high-strung sister Emma (Clea Lewis) doesn’t even remember him. Dad (Don Took) warmly recalls Todd’s interest in the Phillies, a good sign until it turns out it’s actually his own childhood he’s remembering. Grace (Joan Stuart Morris), Duncan’s rail-thin, face-lifted, shopping-obsessed mother, musters some maternal memories, but they consist mainly of narcissistic ramblings from a slightly earlier stage in her alcoholism.

So, why does Todd, who is still vigorous, come home to die? Perhaps to shock his Fred MacMurray-like dad with a graphic tale of bathroom orgies and anonymous sex? (“I feel good about our talk,” says dad, only momentarily ruffled.) Perhaps because of a last wish that his family recognize him for who he is?

No, Silver sends Todd home because in doing so he creates a desperate situation in which to show off a true flair for rapid-fire absurdist dialogue. Tipping his hat to Christopher Durang, Joe Orton and Edward Albee, Silver gives us characters in major denial who shoot off furious, often funny non sequiturs that build to create loopy rhythms. These volleys sometimes sail and other times remain self-consciously underdeveloped.

But “Pterodactyls” is more than a set-piece for some brilliant dialogue. Make no mistake, this is a play. It has a huge symbol, a dinosaur that Todd constructs from bones he finds in the back yard. The beast goes up in the expensively decorated living room as the family disintegrates.

The metaphor is both clear and muddy: This family unit is now merely simulating a purpose it once had. Here’s the problem: It’s really only Todd who no longer has any use for the family. Silver never acknowledges that the parents, for instance, might have some life outside of the way their children view them. To equate Todd’s view of them with pure, objective uselessness presents a credibility problem that sparkling dialogue cannot solve.

Director Tim Vasen seems more comfortable with the play’s absurdity than with its dark realism (which, in turn, is reinforced by Michael Vaughn Sims’ straightforward set). A very funny David Fenner practically steals the show as Emma’s fiance Tommy, who has the frightening pep of a singer in a Young Republican chorale until he puts on a little maid’s uniform and finds his true sexuality (thank you again, Todd).

As mom, Morris emits hysteria from her eyes while daintily removing a pink glove from her hand. Took is unremarkable as an unremarkable dad. The Betty-Boop-voiced Lewis is nerves personified as a full-grown woman who squeezes herself into white patent-leather shoes and a tight polka-dot dress. (Costumer Todd Roehrman is very good with the details.)

As Todd, James Parks maintains an impressively charming blankness, a necessity in portraying a son who feels real sympathy for the family he helps destroy. In “Pterodactyls,” Silver combines an artist’s wit and rage with an immature self-righteousness. When he writes a play that acknowledges his own complicity, watch out.

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“Pterodactyls,” South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday matinees, 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Ends April 16. $24-$34. (714) 957-4033. Running time: 2 hours.

James Parks: Todd Duncan

Clea Lewis: Emma Duncan

David Fenner: Tommy McKorcle

Joan Stuart Morris: Grace Duncan

Don Took: Arthur Duncan

A South Coast Repertory production. By Nicky Silver. Directed by Tim Vasen. Sets by Michael Vaughn Sims. Costumes by Todd Roehrman. Lights by Jane Reisman. Sound by Garth Hemphill. Production manager Michael Mora.