How they got there and where they will go make up the story of "Six Years," which chronicles their relationship over the course of 24 years in five scenes set six years apart. The play begins in 1949 in a motel room in the rain as Phil finally returns from World War II. Meredith has not heard from him since 1944, when he was hospitalized suffering from "exhaustion." We never learn where he's been; he sums up: "The world just keeps on moving. I feel so far behind that no amount of running will catch me up."
The scene is full of incomplete sentences as the two try to re-establish a connection, setting a pattern that persists in the years ahead. When Meredith tells Phil, "We'll give you whatever you need," she doesn't realize what she's committing to or the impact it will have.
Tom Brokaw called theirs "the greatest generation," but it was also the most silent one. Veterans didn't talk about their war experiences, and wives bore their sufferings stoically. "Six Years" follows Phil and Meredith through the growing affluence of the 1950s and the optimism of the early '60s into the tumult of the Vietnam War, when their son, Michael, signs up to fight. In one of the play's most powerful moments, Phil cannot tell Michael not to go: To admit the war is not worth fighting would deny the meaning of the sacrifice he and his fallen comrades made.
SLAC's production is impeccably orchestrated and paced by director Tracy Callahan and insightfully acted by an in-sync ensemble. Because of White's highlighting approach, the play's supporting characters tend to be underwritten. Paul Kiernan as Jack, Meredith's abrasive, big-thinking brother, Susan Dolan as Peg, his brassy but kind-hearted wife, and especially Michael Behrens as Tom, their ineffectual, inarticulate friend, compensate deftly to flesh out their characters. Leticia Vélez has some nice moments as Dorothy, a woman Phil meets in his travels.
But "Six Years" is really about Phil and Meredith, and Robert Scott Smith and Alexandra Harbold couldn't be more perfectly matched, playing off each other subtly and seamlessly. Harbold underlies Meredith's surface fragility with a steely resolve, and Smith has a way of shutting down Phil's face that encapsulates his inner turmoil.
Cynthia Rees' resonant sound design, with its snippets of newscasts, carries us through the years, with an able assist from Brenda van der Wiel's period costumes, James Craig's moody light and Keven Myhre's spare, but homey, sets.
The final scene of "Six Years" comes full circle in another motel room in the rain. We'd like to believe in its hopefulness for the future, but even the intensity of Phil and Meredith's love may not be enough to repair war's devastating legacy.
If you go
* Where: Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City.
* When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays; through Dec. 7.
* Running time: Two hours, including an intermission. The show contains adult themes and language.
* Tickets: $27 to $34 with discounts for students, theatergoers under 30, and groups.
Call 363-SLAC or visit www.saltlakeacting- company.org.
* Bottom line: "Six Years" paints a powerful portrait of the dysfunctional aftermath of war and its impact on one family's relationships.
