THE TRAIN HOME

Back from her foray into the multigenerational saga (Daughters of the New World, 1992), Shreve returns with the mix of ingredients that has served her so well in the past: troubled families, dark secrets, and the irresistible, nearly magical forces of fate and love. Will Huston, an actor from Dublin, has arrived in Washington, D.C., with his heart set on revenge. Many years earlier his beloved younger brother was killed in Northern Ireland by a man who now works in Washington. Will, disguising himself as a priest, plans to gain access to the man's home and shoot him. Annie Blakemore, the mother of two young children and a sometime-opera singer, spots Will in his priest's garb and begins to follow him. It happens that priests are the source of a longtime fascination, perhaps even obsession, for Annie, who harbors guilt for a car accident that has left her husband, Adam, an embittered paraplegic. Annie is no stranger in the art of disguise herself. She enjoys assuming a variety of hats and poses, onstage and off. During the course of the next several days, Will and Annie cross paths several times, but always incognito, never as themselves. Meanwhile, for both, the backstage tensions mount. Will's revenge plan is about to be acted out. Adam's behavior, always menacing, grows truly alarming. Finally, it's exit stage left for both Will and Annie. When the masks come off, there aren't many surprises—at least for us—but the music is sweet. Another box-office hit for Shreve fans.