A Sensitive, Solid Visit to Horovitz’s ‘Harvard Yard’

Retired music appreciation teacher Jacob Brackish may be passionate about his favorite classical works, but they also scare him silly. “I’ve heard it all before,” he explains with the telling unease of an old man gazing into the twilight of his life.

Terminal cancer has forced the fiercely independent Brackish to hire a glum, humorless new housekeeper, setting the stage for confrontation, emotional bridge-building and a touching vision of life’s completion in Israel Horovitz’s newly revised “Park Your Car in Harvard Yard” at the Fountain Theatre.

This intimate, seriocomic adversarial duet in the “Driving Miss Daisy” vein is a minefield of potential schmaltz. It demands--and gets--uncommon sensitivity and focus from Robert Symonds and Elizabeth Reilly as the sparring Gloucester, Mass., housemates. Both have the courage to make their impeccably accented characters downright disagreeable, gradually earning our sympathy and respect through their rediscovered humanity. Symonds doesn’t pull any punches with the cranky elitism and petty distrust that have left Brackish unmarried and friendless, and Reilly resists making housekeeper Kathleen’s sullen awkwardness into something endearing and cute.

As the pair’s exploration into each other’s pasts reveals more connections than even small-town life might plausibly account for, these two fine actors compensate with unwavering emotional authenticity. Director Hope Alexander-Willis sustains a delicate tonal balance that lets the considerable humor in the piece shine through without overpowering the poignancy.

* “Park Your Car in Harvard Yard,” Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Sept. 23. $18-$20. (213) 663-1525. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.