Performed in the small, intimate theater of the Genesis Creative Collective, Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful” opens to a backdrop that’s hardly minimalistic. Depicting a three-bedroom Houston apartment in the 1950s, the set, cluttered with old furniture, knick-knacks and draped clothing, transports viewers into a world that’s not just staged, but lived in. 

“The Trip to Bountiful” is an acclaimed play by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Texas-born playwright Horton Foote. Kicking off the City Theatre Company’s 20th Anniversary Season, the play, directed by Tracy Arnold, follows Mrs. Carrie Watts (Judith Laird) as she embarks on a trip from Houston to her rural hometown of Bountiful, searching for meaning and an escape from her unfulfilling urban life. 

The first act of the play introduces audiences to a household gripped by constant tension and bickering. Mrs. Watts and her son, Ludie (Beau Paul), both feel plagued with nostalgia for their life in Bountiful, while her abrasive daughter-in-law, Jessie (Dawn Erin), constantly proclaims her desire to live larger, tired of their financial situation and Mrs. Watts’ constant presence. 

With a stagnant set, elevated by the captivating performances of the three main actors, the play’s first act builds tension between Mrs. Watts and Jessie until a breaking point that sets Mrs. Watts’ journey in motion. 

The play’s search for meaning and nostalgia is vividly brought to life by Laird’s tender and soft-spoken portrayal of Mrs. Watts. 

A reflective and thoughtful old woman, Mrs. Watts is the antithesis of Erin’s Jessie, an unsentimental materialist whose harsh tongue seeks to scold Mrs. Watts at every chance. 

As the audience goes through Mrs. Watts’ journey, they witness the old woman’s passion for life return. From the timid, mousy woman she presents herself as in the first act to the liberated one she becomes in the finale, Laird portrays the search for meaning with profound believability. 

Mrs. Watts’ son, Ludie, similar to his mother, longs for Bountiful too, and only his memories bring him sorrow rather than purpose. 

“I want to stop remembering. It doesn’t do any good to remember,” Ludie said in the play’s final moments. 

Ludie and Mrs. Watts are two sides of the same coin. Ludie feels nostalgia for a life he couldn’t recreate with his own wife, while Mrs. Watts feels nostalgia for one that brought her purpose. 

Foote’s writing portrays nostalgia as a complex emotion, affecting characters in profoundly different ways. While Mrs. Watts finds meaning in longing, Ludie only finds a sense of loss and failure. 

In addition to the thoughtful writing, the play features 1950s period costuming that offers an excellent visual support to the conversation of materialism, which is prominent throughout the script. Jessie’s brightly colored, floral dresses and silk pajamas contrast with Ludie and Mrs. Watts’ plain colored, modest attire, offering audiences a chance to see Jessie’s materialistic motives rather than observing them through dialogue. 

“The Trip to Bountiful” is open through March 8th at the Genesis Creative Collective.