What do beekeeping, event horizons, roses and lilies, superstring theory and constellations have in common? They’re all part of the world inhabited by Felix Humble, the main character in Charlotte Jones’ witty “Humble Boy,” currently at 1st Stage.
Felix Humble (Matt Dewberry) first appears as a stuttering thirtysomething creature, a brilliant research fellow in theoretical astrophysics at Cambridge who is more comfortable with abstract theories than with real life. He has returned to his family home in the British Cotswolds for the funeral of his father, an entomologist and beekeeper. Like Felix, he was an intelligent but unpretentious man.
The occasion becomes an opportunity for Felix to confront the primary force that has pulled and shaped him throughout his life, his domineering mother, whom Felix equates to a black hole. In MiRan Powell’s brilliantly brutal but funny portrayal, Flora Humble is a narcissistic female more interested in her nose job than in her son, a woman whose stinging language is perfectly appropriate for the queen bee of the Humble society.
Felix’s former lover, Rosie Pye (Nevie Brooks) is a combination of sexual taunt, well-placed anger, insensitivity and sensibility. Her vulgar father, George Pye (Jeff Murray), is a perfect match for Felix’s mother in terms of egotism and greedy self-satisfaction. When Felix discovers that his mother plans to marry George, Felix does a Hamlet-like recoil.
Two characters treat Felix with sympathy. Mercy Lott (Martha Karl) is a lovelorn woman of a certain age who fancies George. Jim (David Winkler) is a gardener and confidant who provides useful advice and support to the beleaguered Felix.
‘Humble Boy’
Where: 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean
When: 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through April 18
Info: $15 to $25; 703-854-1856; 1ststagetysons.org
Jones packs a lot of suggestion into her portrayal of the earthbound characters who buzz around Felix. Director Lee Mikeska Gardner adroitly capitalizes on that subtlety, underlining Jones’ themes — the link to “Hamlet” and the male/female functions of the beehive — with a delicate hand.
Richard Montgomery’s set is a gorgeous re-creation of an English country house garden. The sturdy stone back of the house is visible, flanked by a work shed and an apple tree. Lush banks of flowers extend out on both sides of the stage.
Cheryl Patton Wu’s costumes are a visual delight. Flora’s first outfit, a navy-blue dress and coat and oversized sunglasses, are de rigeur for a funeral where the mourning wife is too vain to wear black. Flora soon morphs into the social butterfly she strives to be, in a bright salmon dress and hot pink sweater. Felix’s clothes are always too small, just barely able to contain his generous girth and persona.
“Humble Boy” ends with a lawn party, at which Felix finally speaks his mind and comes into his own. He ultimately goes back to his ivory tower to continue looking for the “mother of all theories” to unite every aspect of physics, but his weeks at home have not been a loss: He creates a change in the real world and establishes a place in his father’s garden.
