TALKING PICTURES GOODMAN THEATRE
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The constancy of change underpins much of Foote’s work, which is now being celebrated at the Goodman Theatre with a festival of four of his plays. (Foote is also a screenwriter with credits that include To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tender Mercies.) The Trip to Bountiful—his 1953 teleplay, turned into a 1985 film starring Geraldine Page—opens on the Goodman’s main stage next month, in time for the playwright’s 92nd birthday. But Foote’s 1990 work, Talking Pictures, now up in the Goodman’s smaller Owen Theatre in a finely tuned production directed by Henry Wishcamper, might be an even better introduction to his world.
Other signs of change resonate with today’s immigration debate. Estaquio, the Mexican son of a Baptist missionary, charms the Jacksons with his optimism and his enthusiastic, open-throated rendition of “Rock of Ages” in Spanish. But that’s not enough for him to be invited to join them on the porch. He’s strictly a yard companion, not quite acceptable as an equal.
