KPFA Theatre Critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Pictures from Home” at Marin Theatre through May 31, 2026
TEXT OF REVIEW
Acclaimed photographer Larry Sultan based his career on capturing life as lived through his art, and what better notion than collating photos of his own family and home growing up in Sherman Oaks in Southern California during the middle of the twentieth century.
This collection of snapshots became a book published in 1992, which was then adapted for the stage as “Pictures from Home”, which plays at Marin Theatre through May 31st.
In this memory play, Larry, who died in 2009, tells the story of his visits to his parents while preparing the book, as the three, parents and son, comment on the pictures and bicker with one another. Irving Sultan, a retired salesman, is no Willy Loman. He sold well and retired well-off, always ready to explain exactly what makes a great salesman, often to Larry’s chagrin. Jean Sultan, ever acerbic, puts up with her husband’s toxic masculinity, refusing to take his bullying and having a life of her own. Always seemingly on the verge of divorce, they will stay together until the end.
What makes Pictures from Home work so well in this Marin Theatre production — the show began off broadway with in 2023 with a cast that included Nathan Lane — is the truthfulness, in the dialogue, in all three performances, and in the direction of Jonathan Moscone. There’s no heightened speech, no pregnant theatrical pauses. These are real people sounding like a family, dysfunctional maybe, but real.
The performances by Victor Talmadge as Irving and Susan Koozin as Jean are so truthful that even if they’re not your actual parents or grandparents, they still sound like them in their sparring and quarrelling. Dan Cantor, as the narrator and son, physically a dead ringer for the real Larry, pulls off his double duties without a hitch.
Pictures from Home can at times be painful to watch. These people are maybe too real for comfort. Do you really want to spend an evening with relatives like these, didn’t you move as far away from them as possible? Our memories create golden ages where such squabbles and power plays don’t exist. Which is why Larry Sultan’s photos have such resonance. His photos were more credible than the memories he retained, which is why his books and exhibitions work so well. This play mirrors that credibility.
With truthfulness in short supply these days in social media and in news reports, finding it in a memory play is all the more special.
Pictures from Home by Sharr White, directed by Jonathan Moscone, plays at Marin Theatre through May 31st. For more information you can go to marintheatre.org. I’m Richard Wolinsky on Bay Area theatre for KPFA.