A Letter From Ethel Kennedy is a small play performed in a small theater by a small cast. But its message and scope are very large, practically universal. By the time the first act is over, I found myself feeling as if I was a part of the dysfunctional Conway family. I think is a tribute to the superb acting abilities of Jay Goede, Anita Gillette and Bernie McInerney.

Christopher Conway is a man who’s nearly forty; he’s a successful television executive and he’s dying from AIDS. He wants to reconcile with his parents while he still can. The first act of the play chronicles a long and emotionally draining lunch he has with his mother, Bridget, at a restaurant in the theater district. They have tickets to a matinee, which they never use, choosing instead to remain at the restaurant and talk. Nothing is resolved, however, and Kit leaves to go back to Los Angeles to die.

The first part of the second act is another lunch at the same restaurant, but this time Kit is dining with his father. For all the acceptance and love he takes for granted from his mother, there is nothing but criticism from his father. At the end of their conversation, Jimmy finally admits that he has always feared his son.

The last half of the second act takes place after Kit’s death. His mother has called his ex-lover, Matthew, and asked him to lunch. She has tried to make improvements in her life; she’s stopped smoking and is attending AA meetings. She and her husband have separated, which seems like a positive thing for her. Her main reason for wanting to see Matthew seems to be to reinforce her belief that someone loved her son. She’d told Kit, before he died, that Matthew loved him, but Matthew won’t tell her what she wants to hear.

Before he leaves, Matthew shows her a play Kit wrote about himself and his family and friends. If Bridget and Jimmy have no objections, the one thing that she never wanted to happen will take place: their lives are going to be on stage, for everyone to see.

Kit comes alive again, if only in her mind, as she reads dialogue from the play he’s written. The final line should be funny, but it seemed quite sad to me.

The character I most identified with was Bridget. I thought Anita Gillette gave an incredible performance as a woman who wanted things to be the way they were before, but knew they never would be. Bernie McInerney played Jimmy Conway with enough unease as to make me feel uncomfortable during his scene.

Stephen Barker Turner did a great job playing a character who had loved Kit, but had given up on him and refused to re-visit that part of his life again. I was mildly annoyed by Jay Goede’s take on Kit. His attacks on Bridget seemed mean-spirited and his habit of quoting Eugene O’Neill and James Joyce was pretentious. If I was supposed to feel sorry for him, I didn’t.

I can’t end this review without mentioning the fifth member of the cast. If Randy Harrison hadn’t been in this play, I’d never have seen it because I drove 1400 miles round trip, just to see his NY stage debut. His part was the smallest, in terms of actual dialogue, but he was on the stage a lot, doing waiter things like clearing off tables and setting out silverware. I thought he was amazing, of course. His energy and almost manic tendency toward perpetual motion endeared his character to me. Casey is, arguably, the shallowest human being in New York. He’s lazy and not too bright. I have a feeling that he’s gotten by on his looks in the past and he’s not accustomed to actually having to work for a living. He concentrates on small details, like filling the Sweet-N-Low containers and putting the glasses in the exactly correct place on the empty tables, and completely screws up the major aspects of his job, like remembering what people ordered and who wants ice and who doesn’t. He’s pleasant enough, however, and his concern for Kit’s health is illustrated very well in the middle of the second act. All in all, I’d say that Randy’s first appearance on the stage in New York was a joy to behold.