Almost every character in “Before the Sword” harbors a secret.
Fifteen-year-old Freddie committed a violent act at school —we know why, although wisely playwright Andrew Alty never spells it out — and now no one knows what to do with him.
Freddie’s adoptive father, a decorated World War 1 vet, is repressing long-held shame.
His wife, Hannah, suddenly discovers she has hidden desires.
And the eccentric writer Tim White, who’s a bit of a hermit, also has hidden desires—but they are only incidental to the magical world he inhabits in the forest near the small English town where they live.
Only the new local vicar and his wife are at peace with themselves; they’re incidental characters but a stabilizing force in this emotionally involving story.
The drama, commissioned by New Conservatory Theatre Center, is currently in a luminous world premiere here, directed by founder-artistic director Ed Decker.
The “sword” in the play’s title refers to “The Sword in the Stone,” English writer T.H. White’s fantasy novel about King Arthur, first published in 1938 and later published as part of a larger collection of stories called “The Once and Future King.” The character Tim White is based loosely on the real White (1906-64).
Thus, we get to see the earliest stirrings of White’s writerly imagination, which Alty has integrated seamlessly into the plot. But this is essentially a multi-layered coming-of-age story.
Young Freddie (played with great charm and depth by Henry Halkyard) and his family—repressed mother (Kim Donovan) and rage-aholic father (Mark P. Robinson), both fine—are all at their wits’ end: After the terrible incident, Freddie simply can’t go back to school, where he never fit in anyway. What to do?
In runaway mode, Freddie encounters Mr. White in the woods calling for his (also runaway) pet hawk. A bond forms between the boy and the man.
White, who’s abrupt and eccentric and, as he confesses, a misfit like Freddie, is also wise to the ways of nature and life in general. When he agrees to be Freddie’s tutor, the well-integrated plot is set in motion.
In the role of White, who talks to himself a lot, Adam KuveNiemann tends toward the histrionic; he hasn’t yet found a way to truly internalize and personalize the larger-than-life character.
No matter. In this period piece, story, characters and design elements beautifully coalesce. The late-1930s costumes by Keri Fitch, including Freddie’s British schoolboy attire, are just right. So is Devin Kasper’s set: woods complete with trees and boulders and hanging autumnal foliage (and what turns out to be an all-important stone in the foreground), lit (by Christian V. Mejia) in various glowing shades, the scenes within Freddie’s home cleverly set inside the forest itself. Kalon Thibodeaux’s woodsy, birdy sound effects, too, are thrilling, at various times ethereal enough that you can envision them igniting White’s imagination.
Alty’s script, as is so often the case with world premieres, needs tightening. It sags in the middle of the first act, and several seduction scenes (no, not White and Freddie) are unnecessarily lengthy and somewhat awkwardly staged.
But overall, under Decker’s empathetic direction, this is a play that enchants in many ways. Bonus points for an absolutely perfect ending.
“Before the Sword” continues through Oct. 15 at New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Tickets are $25-$65. Call (415) 861-8972 or visit nctcsf.org.