4,000 Miles – Review by Marlene S. Gaylinn

At last we have a meaningful play by Amy Herzog that everyone, no matter what age or cultural background can relate to. Although written in 2007, its slice of life appeal is just as fresh and meaningful today— only, minus the controversy it caused when the only fear then was called, “The Red Scare.” Never the less, it won an Obie Award in 2012 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in in 2013.

This biographical play features “Vera,” played by Mia Dillon whose body language and facial expressions enhance her performance. Vera represents Herzog’s real-life grandmother. The troubled “Leo,” sensitively played by Clay Singer, represents the young playwright herself. Herzog biked the 4000 miles from the West Coast to stay at her feisty grandma’s Greenwich Village apartment.

At Westport Country Playhouse (WCP) this one act production, aptly directed by David Kennedy, is about the huge distance between the young and old, how everything around us changes as we get older and yet our emotions remain the same and may even draw the two generations closer.

Mia Dillon and Clay Singer make you feel as if they are your own family. Lea DiMarci and Phoebe Holden play Leo’s attractive, disappointing distractions.
Since Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” there are only a few American playwrights who write about our journey through life.

4000 miles has a short run at WCP so see it before it closes.