Suzan-Lori Parks’ ambitious new drama reminded me of a line from G.K. Chesterton: “Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” Parks’ Father Comes From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) addresses weight themes — the moral contradictions of American slavery, the savagery of war, the literary burdens of myth and Homeric epics. But she does so with an admirably light touch, like a latter-day Brecht by way of the Borscht belt. She even introduces a talking dog! Father is conceived as the first three installments in a nine-play cycle that will eventually extend to the present day — but it plays less like three standalone plays a la August Wilson’s century cycle than an old-fashioned three-act drama following a single and singular figure: a favored slave (Sterling K. Brown) who is recruited by his plantation owner to fight for the Confederacy. Read my grade-A review on EW.com
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