“There’s you, and there’s me. But now I’m the one who’s 43 and stuck. I can’t find my way through. Just like you. Am I just like you?”
“Fun Home” is the true story of Alison, a 43-year-old lesbian cartoonist remembering two distinct periods in her life: at 10 years old, “Small Alison,” and 19 years old, “Medium Alison.”
This musical was adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori from Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir of the same name. Through flashbacks and musical numbers, she remembers her time growing up in a funeral home, nicknamed the “Fun Home,” her journey of discovering her sexuality and dealing with the conflicting emotions of coming to terms with who she was.
This show is beautifully performed by the cast of Open Stage of Harrisburg. The production is meant to make you laugh, to make you cry, and to make you think about some challenging subjects: family relations, growing up in small-town Pennsylvania, discovering sexuality, rejecting identity, embracing identity, coping with reality, avoiding reality, and coming to terms with death and the guilt associated with it. It is particularly relatable to those who struggle to discover and embrace their own identity.
Most of the musical centers around Alison’s relationship with her father, Bruce, a closeted gay man struggling with his sexuality. At the beginning of the musical, Alison looks through her father’s old possessions, remembering when she was 10, focusing on her father’s obsession with antiques, home projects and cleanliness of the house.
“Sometimes, my father appeared to enjoy having children,” Alison says. “But the real object of his affection was his house.”
Small Alison was an energetic, confident and strong-willed tomboy who would rather wear “boy clothes” than girls’ dresses. She, her two brothers, Christian and John, and her mother, Helen, would often assist Bruce in tidying up the house to make it perfect to his high standards. In the song “Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue,” Alison recalls the typical frenzy to clean the house before a viewing.
“Everything is balanced and serene, like chaos never happens if it’s never seen,” she sings.
Later in her life, when she’s 19 and in college, Medium Alison begins to explore her own sexuality by hesitantly getting involved with the Gay Union on campus, where she meets Joan, a confident lesbian. On break from school, Medium Alison and Joan travel home to stay with her family for a few days. The awkwardness is palatable as both of her parents are introduced to her “friend” Joan, unwilling to recognize that Joan is her girlfriend. After getting her mother alone for a conversation, Helen reveals her struggle throughout the years to ignore Bruce’s affairs and her attempt to keep their home together despite everything.
Later that day, Medium Alison and Bruce take a drive together. Medium Alison is nervous to bring up their shared experiences of being gay, and Bruce is fearful to talk about it. He reveals a story of a former lover, but quickly changes the subject back to a safer one. Alison looks back on the moment, upset at herself for not having the courage to say something and also remembers it as the last moment she sees her father alive.
Alison, now an adult remembering these moments, feels sadness and guilt over the father’s death.
“I had no idea that my beginning would be your end,” she says.
The start of her embracing her identity left her father no longer able to cope with his. All she has left of her father are his artifacts, her drawings and her memories. In the end, she feels heartache over what happened, but also joy from the time that they had together and their connection throughout their lives.
Beautiful and tragic, poignant and hilarious, this show will touch your heart and stay in your mind long after it is over.
“Fun Home” is playing at Open Stage of Harrisburg until Oct. 29. The production is directed by Stuart Landon and sponsored by Bitner Family Funeral Homes. It is presented with special permission by Samuel French.
