The Roads To Home
Closed 2h 10m
The Roads To Home
79%
79%
(112 Ratings)
Positive
89%
Mixed
9%
Negative
2%
Members say
Great acting, Great writing, Slow, Absorbing, Entertaining

About the Show

Primary Stages celebrates the centennial of late playwright Horton Foote's birth with a mounting of three interconnected shorts that probe the crises impacting three female friends in 1920s Houston.

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Critic Reviews (21)

The New York Times
October 5th, 2016

"This loose-jointed triptych hardly ranks among Foote’s finest work...'The Roads to Home' lacks the seamlessness of Foote at his best; often, its dialogue seems not woven but nailed together. But for a Southern boy like me, the sound of Ms. Foote and Harriet Harris rattling on...is a home-baked treat too delicious to miss...Foote and Harris surf their characters’ streams of consciousness with a virtuosic lack of self-consciousness, giving equal weight to the trivial and the tragic."
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Time Out New York
October 5th, 2016

"Michael Wilson’s firm, translucent production hits the right notes of melancholy, dry humor and nostalgia we’ve come to expect from the author of 'The Trip to Bountiful' and 'The Orphans Home Cycle'...There are lovely performances by two great ladies of the stage: Hallie Foote and Harriet Harris...The final act, set in an Austin asylum where Annie has lost the narrative thread of her life, is both deeply sad and gently whimsical—a magic trick that only Horton could pull off."
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Deadline
October 5th, 2016

"Few male playwrights can match Horton Foote for the women he sparked to life...In truth, little happens in the way of plot in 'The Roads To Home,' and yet Michael Wilson has staged the show with such truthful economy of emotion that every moment rings true and cuts deep. Which is how it goes with the fine, rich work of Horton Foote. From Hallie Foote we expect such subtle realism; the surprise is Harris, usually in broader form as a nasty wit but here less wicked than desperate."
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The Hollywood Reporter
October 5th, 2016

"Time seems to move more slowly while you're watching a Foote play, and I mean that as a compliment...'The Roads to Home' is less concerned with plot, of which there isn't much, than with subtle character revelations. The quiet direction by Foote veteran Wilson enhances the cozy intimacy, as do the ensemble's excellent performances...This evening of one-acts is a minor effort...But it offers enough subtle pleasures to infuse us with the warm feeling that we indeed can go home again."
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Theatermania
October 5th, 2016

"Under the sensitive direction of Michael Wilson, the production is gorgeously designed and beautifully acted as the drama maintains a constant low boil...Theatergoers who live for sharp-tongued exchanges and explosive confrontations are likely to be underwhelmed by Foote's quietly tragic drama. But if you take the time to slow down and really listen, you're likely to find a vibrant epic within the subtext, a snapshot of a bygone age that still reflects our present condition."
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Lighting & Sound America
October 6th, 2016

"Sometimes I think we have it all wrong when we call Horton Foote a playwright; really, he's a composer, wringing music both merry and melancholy from the everyday conversation of his characters...'The Roads to Home' is a minor work, a chamber piece in three movements, but it is no less resonant for all of that. Each scene is filled with Foote's acute understanding of these people; in his hands, the deeply ordinary seems extraordinary. And when his characters talk -- oh, the music they make!"
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Talkin' Broadway
October 5th, 2016

"It's as fiercely magical and fiendishly funny as it is chilling in its projection of the ultimate in 'you can't go home again' moralizing, thanks in large part to the presence of Hallie Foote...She effortlessly conveys the dying light and dimming beauty that describe Mabel's own fragile and tragic state. It's sumptuous work that, except for Abner, is not matched by other members of the company...Wilson's direction is focused but soft, and could be paced just a bit quicker."
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CurtainUp
October 7th, 2016

"The plays by Horton Foote are often defined by how beautifully he addresses what may look on the surface as the sheer and utter banality of everyday reality. For that reason it is hard not to gush over 'The Roads to Home' which may not be in the top tier of his canon but is framed by a engaging serenity and a gentle touch of sadness...This lovely production has a sublime cast under the fine direction of Michael Wilson."
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