“Please Don’t Ask About Becket” a gripping tale about family
Listen to this articlePlease Don’t Ask About Becket is a well-spun, rich and powerful story about one family and the inexplicable and mysterious loss of one its members, Becket. It begins appropriately enough with the birth of twins, Emily and Becket. The family is one of significant financial means and privilege but as the two twins grow Becket increasingly receives significantly more attention than Emily.
The interpersonal relationships between parent and child and between siblings is masterfully crafted by playwright Wendy Graf and exquisitely presented by the acting team of Rob Nagle [Rob and dad], Deborah Puette [Grace and mom], Rachel Seiferth [Emily and twin sister] and Hunter Garner [Becket and twin brother].
As the twins reach their teen years, always a time of significant upheaval, Becket takes a turn down the dark road. Despite the enormous efforts of his loving parents who will stop at nothing and spare no expense, Becket falls to a point where he is charged with murder. Sister Emily has moved on to Evanston, Illinois and Northwestern University but remains in constant contact with her troubled but loved sibling.
The ultimate outcome is severely tragic but the overriding message is brilliantly clear. No matter how wealthy or privileged any family may be, no matter how much love is bestowed upon the children, there is never an assured outcome. Bad things happen to good people and life is always uncertain and often filled with tragedy. But as entertainment Please Don’t Ask About Becket is a true masterpiece for it compels deep thought and evokes constant emotion as the story progresses from whimsical to tragic and survival.
And while it is considered bad form I ask you to allow me this one personal observation. Watching Please Don’t Ask About Becket hit me with unusual power. Emily goes off to Northwestern University where I once attended school. ecket goes to USC where my daughter is currently studying ,but the real story goes back decades when I was a young lawyer in a suburb of Chicago.
One day a stunningly beautiful young woman walked into to my office and announced that she had a minor traffic issue and needed my assistance. The minor traffic ticket was actually a DUI. I went on to learn that she was the youngest of an extremely wealthy and overwhelming successful family in the area. All of her siblings were either in or had graduated from top Ivy League schools however she had spent most of her time in drug rehab since age 13.
She was absolutely thrilled to discover alcohol because it was legal. I suggested that while legal there were limitations as her DUI ticket suggested. She didn’t care. One week before we were to go to court on her DUI charges she was found dead on a nearby road.
The evidence strongly suggested that she had crashed into a tree while driving severely intoxicated. A gorgeous young woman from an extremely wealthy and successful family dead at age 22 from alcohol abuse. I never stopped wondering how severely that ripped her surviving family apart. She was the “Becket” in her family, now go and see how his family deals with similar if not an identical set of circumstances. The inescapable truth is that no matter how rich or powerful anyone may be, absolutely no one is immune from deep personal tragedy.
Please Don’t Ask About Becket is playing at the Sacred Fools Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90038. Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. now through September 18th. Reservations and ticketing available by calling 323-960-7745 or online at: www.plays411.com/becket.
Top photo by Ed Krieger
Ron Irwin was born in Chicago, Illinois a long time ago. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, became a trial lawyer, TV and radio host, CEO of a public company and once held an Emmy. He never won an Emmy he just held one. Ron has written and published twelve books. His most important book to date is “Live, Die, Live Again” in which Ron tells of his early life and his unexpected and very temporary death in 2012. That experience dramatically refocused his life and within the pages of that book Ron reveals how he achieved a much healthier life, ridding himself of Diabetes, Cancer and Heart Failure. Now Ron enjoys writing about many things including health topics, travel [he has circled the globe several times], adventure, culinary experiences and the world of performing art. Ron’s motto is “Live better, live longer and live stronger because it feels great and annoys others.” Contact the author.