There's just one duffel bag in "The Family Line" but there's a whole lotta baggage to unpack.
Lee Blessing's comedy/drama is only about 90 minutes long but he piles a lot of tricky material on the shoulders of his two characters. Jonah Line (Bob Davis) has arrived in Florida, shortly after the death of his estranged daughter. He's driving the grandson, Finn (Hunter Reeve), he has never met to White Bear Lake, Minn. The plan is for Finn to live with his father, whom he has never met. Along the way, race, police violence and complex family dynamics are sort of addressed.
Under the direction of Peter Moore, it's hard to imagine "Family Line" being much better performed. Reeve has the trickier role, since his character is grappling with grief and an uncertain future, and the young actor creates a clear, consistent arc — from immature anger to grudging affection to a decision that feels realistic and frightening. Stage veteran Davis, who has a gift for exploring the foibles of humanity, brings warmth to his role as the baffled grandfather.
The play is necessarily static, since almost all of it takes place in Jonah's car, but Moore keeps the shifting dynamics lively enough to compensate for the lack of movement. Not much can be done, though, about the slightness of Blessing's work — which, like most comedies in which the writer selects a character's name so it can make the title into a pun, doesn't have a lot to say.
This gets particularly problematic as Jonah's car gets closer to Minnesota and it becomes clear he and Finn will arrive in the middle of the George Floyd protests. Blessing, a Minneapolis native, seems reluctant to define his characters' views on the protests, which is probably smart since the unrest is likely too fresh for a brief comedy/drama to deal with. But it ends up feeling like the play name-checks Floyd's murder for "relevance," without having anything relevant to say.
Similarly, race is a factor in "Family Line" but it's unclear where the play is going with it. "It took you all day to even mention it," Finn tells his grandfather about halfway through the trip (Jonah is white, Finn is mixed-race). That could also be said of "Family Line," where Blessing chooses to make Finn's background complicated in a way that adds little to the discourse — and could easily be the subject of an entire play.
Blessing's play is entertaining, with jokes that land and promising characters. This Stage North presentation is its world premiere so it's possible that, like the events it incorporates, "The Family Line" will continue to evolve.
'The Family Line'
Who: By Lee Blessing. Directed by Peter Moore.
When: 2 p.m. Thu., 7:30 p.m. Fri., 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends April 17.
Where: Capri Theater, 2027 W. Broadway, Mpls.
Protocol: Masks and vaccination (or negative COVID test within 72 hours) required.
Tickets: $20, stagenorthmpls.org.
