NIGHTLIGHT
Basically, Nightlight is the elliptical story of Eddie and Louie, two bums who come from nowhere and are definitely headed nowhere. They’re not like the bums you see on the street. They may dress the same, but they don’t drink, stink, or talk to invisible people. Indeed, they’re unnaturally coherent. They speak the clear, occasionally poetic language that playwright Keith Huff has made them speak. And although they talk a good deal about scrounging jobs, money, or free lunches, their immediate needs aren’t especially material. Their major problems are fear and loneliness. Their quest is spiritual. They seek the night-light, the light in the darkness, the hope, the promise of morning, the assurance that they’re not alone.
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Another fine scene is the meeting between Louie and his sister-in-law, Claire. Louie’s brother won’t even come to the back door to talk to him anymore, but Claire will, even though she can’t let him inside, and it’s painful for her. Once again, the play comes alive, and Karen Pratt is great as Claire. She takes a small role with small lines like “It’s late, Lou,” and provides the play’s only (and much needed) suggestion of the irrevocable gulf between Louie and the life, the family, he left behind. In that one line you can see Claire harden her heart against the hopelessness of Louie’s situation, a hopelessness that, if Louie admitted it to himself, would be the end of him. Good line–“It’s late, Lou”–the classic blow-off.
