In Richard Nelson’s Political Drama ‘We’ll See,’ the Apples Are Still Stewing Over You-Know-Who

Back in 2016, the playwright Richard Nelson introduced a trilogy tracking a fictional family called the Gabriels through the leadup to that year’s presidential election. Mr. Nelson had previously followed a connected family, the Apples, in plays that were also part of what would collectively be called “The Rhinebeck Panorama” — after the Hudson Valley village in which they’re set — premiering on election nights, and key landmark political anniversaries, in 2010, 2012, and 2013, respectively. But the opening of “Women of a Certain Age,” the final installment in 2016, was different, because only hours later Donald J. Trump, defying polls and other predictions, won the race to serve as leader of the free world. I was among the audience members at the Public Theater, where all of “Rhinebeck” has been staged (except for online productions during Covid), who wandered into the lobby after the performance to see multiple screens already blasting reports of tallies that looked very different than most people in the room had anticipated they would.Ten years later, Mr. Nelson is extending his series — which has since come to include another clan, the Michaels — to revisit the Apples. The very aptly titled “We’ll See,” set on November 3, 2026, opened at the Public that evening, as the polls were closing on one of the most divisive midterm elections in memory — and after the past decade, that’s saying something. But even as politics are getting uglier by the day, the Apples have sustained the warmth and grace that have made theater fans look forward to their family dinners as eagerly as they do their own get-togethers, no doubt more so in many cases. That’s not to say that Richard Apple, now a retired lawyer, and his three sisters see eye to eye on everything; disagreement and debate have been central to all the “Rhinebeck” plays.When the Apples argue, however, they do so with a civility that seems almost quaint these days, born not only of love but of mutual respect and a willingness to entertain other perspectives. Such qualities, as any regular follower of social media or siloed cable news could tell you, have grown increasingly rare.As he has done in the past, Mr. Nelson also directs, and he has enlisted five superlative actors who have played the Apples and other “Rhinebeck” characters. Offstage husband and wife Jay O. Sanders and Maryann Plunkett, who have helped anchor numerous productions — Ms. Plunkett has appeared in a dozen — return as Richard and Barbara, the eldest sister, a beloved teacher who is, at 74, facing essentially forced retirement.Age isn’t the only issue in Barbara’s predicament. The tipping point, we learn, was a classroom incident in which she asked students to discuss what scared them. When a girl repeated an offensive remark made by her father — the words aren’t quoted — a boy accused the girl of racism. “She wasn’t saying it,” Barbara emphasizes, in the girl’s defense. “She was reporting it.”The matter escalated, landing Barbara in the principal’s office, staring down a smug man who had once been her pupil. It’s one of several scenarios and observations evoking the kind of discussions that educated, cultured liberals like the Apples have behind closed doors. At another point, Jane Apple Halls, the youngest sibling and a non-fiction writer played again with typical grit by Sally Murphy, explains why she is no longer affiliated with the “proper” party.“I stopped being a Democrat when they stopped being interested in me,” Jane says. The middle sister, Marian, another teacher — played once again by an elegant, vigorous Laila Robins — contests this reasoning, along with Jane’s decision not to vote: “He must be stopped, Jane. Checked at least.”While President Trump is never mentioned by name — it’s a conscious omission— he is referenced repeatedly, and never favorably. “I don’t think we know yet the full extent of the damage he’s causing,” says Richard. “Every time I hear that voice,” Barbara adds, “I want to throw up.”As usual, Mr. Nelson’s writing, so naturalistic that it can make you feel like you’re eavesdropping, addresses matters that transcend politics. Ms. Plunkett has a lovely moment in which Barbara, who has never married or had children, reveals she is writing a story about Sonya, the lovelorn niece of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Richard’s partner, Yvonne, played by a poignant Yvonne Woods, is an actress struggling with cancer, but determined to keep working.“It has occurred to me more than once,” Yvonne muses, “that in tough times, a theater feels like the healthiest place to be.” This can perhaps be even truer when the affliction isn’t physical, and with “We’ll See,” Mr. Nelson continues to provide both solace and food for thought.

In Richard Nelson’s Political Drama ‘We’ll See,’ the Apples Are Still Stewing Over You-Know-Who

In Richard Nelson’s Political Drama ‘We’ll See,’ the Apples Are Still Stewing Over You-Know-Who

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