Review: ‘Grand Horizons’ in San Jose cleverly examines sex and marriage late life

Why do children have such a hard time seeing their parents as living, sexual beings? Teenagers are often ready to gag at the mere thought of dad checking out mom’s caboose.

But adults, who should have a more seasoned understanding of human sexuality, are also capable of behaving badly. Their parents can’t possibly be sexual creatures who yearn to engage in their own primal desires at such an advanced age, right? Elderly parents should stay home, make tea, do crosswords and bounce a grandchild or two on knees.

That’s certainly what brothers Ben (Johnny Moreno) and Brian (Nick Mandracchia) think should be happening. Instead they learn their aging parents Bill (Julian Lopez-Morillas) and Nancy (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone) have decided that after 50 years of marriage, it’s time to call it quits. But why now? What’s even the purpose?

San Jose Stage Company’s production of “Grand Horizons,” featuring an insightful and funny script from playwright Bess Wohl, thoroughly examines these and other issues that take place among grown children and elderly parents. Like Bill and Nancy, who only get wiser as years pile up, the play itself gets stronger and more purposeful as it moves through its two-hour run time. It’s an offering infused with honesty revealing itself masterfully within Allison F. Rich’s keen direction.

The action, or better to say, inaction, begins with a formulaic breakfast as the Beach Boys hit “Wouldn’t it Be Nice” blares with undeniable irony. There is ritual in how Bill and Nancy prepare their morning eats, each assigned task completed with perfect precision. As their early meal ensues, there’s a simple demand from Nancy followed by an even simpler retort from Bill:

“I want a divorce.”

“OK.”

The heartbreak of a couple who now wear stasis like a second skin is not present. There is no devastation whatsoever, only an ice-cold pragmatism to a new reality. But fledgling romance is in the air, just not the air they breathe together. Instead, new curiosity along with the discovery of sex toys and sexting lurk outside the lightly-colored suburban kitchen. It’s all too much for their two sons, who are having none of it.

Despite the farcical moments that push away from the story’s strength, both Moreno and Mandracchina play it pretty straight as they delve into characters who probably should focus more on fixing their own issues. Ben is a lawyer whose stress often causes a spike in his eczema, while his little brother, the gay drama teacher Brian, is awash in nobler pursuits, proud of his ability to get 200 young thespians into his production of “The Crucible.”

Two other female characters fill vital roles in the narrative. Carla (Judith Miller) might feel superfluous based on Miller’s turn that presents an acting style different from other characters, but it really isn’t. Carla may be dismissed as a hussified villain, but Wohl offers this role as a nuanced perspective, opening Nancy’s eyes to real options. There’s also Ben’s very pregnant wife Jess (Ashley Garlick), who rails mightily against two boys who make Willy Loman’s sons look like angels. Jess reminds them that motherhood isn’t a singular entity; within that mother is a woman yearning to breathe free,.

The dogged pursuit of laughs that come freely in Act 1 are tampered down in Act 2. It’s not as if the play suddenly becomes some sort of period drama, but rather finds its voice through humor’s subtlety. It’s also the place where the ensemble truly discovers a higher gear of artistry, especially in the moments where Cone and Lopez-Morillas scintillatingly share solitary space. Both listen to each other brilliantly.

Within the play’s comedic structure, these moments are haunting because they feel so real. What’s in store when “‘til death do us part” isn’t just a wedding vow for young couples but a veracious accounting for long-married couples in their 70s? How does the true revelation of those words manifest when death might now be around the corner? Will regret be a force to be reckoned with?

In a moment that is set up beautifully early in the first act, Jess asks Ben to simply touch his wife’s hand, smartly played for laughs due to a pending payoff later. Only time will tell if there is still magic left in that touch, if they even attempt to touch each other at all.

David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and served as a juror for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Twitter/Mastodon: @davidjchavez.

‘GRAND HORIZONS’

By Bess Wohl, presented by San Jose Stage Company

Through: April 30

Where: San Jose Stage, 490 S. 1st St., San Jose

Running time: Two hours with an intermission

Tickets: $34-$74; www.thestage.org