Almost Home Theatre Review

Two generations of men learn the hard way that there’s no coming home again after war in Almost Home, the new play by Walter Anderson that just opened at the Acorn Theatre. Even if you survive endless torrents of gunfire, torture, and emotional distress, Anderson points out time and time again, there are always more battles to fight, and they’re frequently tougher than the ones that involve real blood. Unfortunately, the play could use a bit more blood of its own. The underlying idea is sound, though. Harry Barnett (Joe Lisi) served in World War II, and saw and did things that even 20 years later, he’s unable to talk about or escape from any other way than through drinking. But his long-secret shame comes bubbling again to the surface when his own son, Johnny (Jonny Orsini), returns to his childhood home in the Bronx from a tour with the marines in Vietnam. Johnny, too, is not the same man who left, and is reluctant to reveal the details of why. All he’ll tell dad and mom Grace (Karen Ziemba) is that his future plans include passing on a promotion to drill instructor and instead enrolling in junior college in Fullerton, California.