As the audience climbed the four flights of stairs to the Public Theater they clearly expected genius. What else could come of the fourth major collaboration between playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis and Director Phillip Seymour Hoffman? The Little Flower of East Orange is the darkly comical and poignant tale of Therese Marie (Ellen Burstyn), an elderly mother who feels increasingly burdensome to her kids. With a candid and witty eye Guirgis examines the family dynamic and tests the age old axiom that "history repeats itself."

Though the story is expressed linearly, it is periodically interrupted by vignettes from Therese's childhood. The production utilized the deep stage, precise lighting and a handful of clouded glass doors to accentuate the shadows of the past. Through these flashbacks we are introduced to Therese's father, a deaf and abusive man, whose affect on Therese is slowly revealed over the course of the play.

Michael Shannon played the son, Danny, who, in addition to dealing with his mother, fights a losing battle against alcohol and drug dependency. As a part-time narrator he was authentic and casual, likable enough that you forgot his faults. His sister Justina, played by Elizabeth Canavan was appropriately wound-up and jittery.

The production made good use of sound, especially music. Nadine's Ipod speakers played a tune that was slowly picked up by the houses sound system, Justina's screechy violin melody set the perfect backdrop for a neurotic scene, and the soft finger picking of the guitar in the final song left the audience emotional.

Where Guirgis' real talent lies is in balancing humor with emotional content. One of his primary comedic characters was Espinoza (David Zayas), the Hispanic male nurse who befriends Therese in the hospital. Though most of his dialogue is riddled with wry asides and pop culture references, in the second act he is confronted with a very serious situation. He comes across a patient' son, grieving his mother's move into the ICU, teetering on the edge of the hospital roof, evidently considering desperate measures. Even under this sort of pressure Espinoza employs humor to make light of matters.

A theme that I found particularly powerful was that of deafness. How many times have we turned to our families for support and fallen on deaf ears? Therese's father hoped that his daughter would grow to become a t teacher of the deaf. Danny even speculates that part of the reason he treated her so harshly was because of his jealousy that she could hear. The estrangement created by having to use sign language mirrors the awkwardness that the family feels as they reunite over the hospital bed.

This play was especially touching to me as I have four elderly grandparents, two of which are in a nursing home. I have been fortunate enough not to lose any close family members as of yet, but my parents constantly that it won't be long. Their regretful but steadfast insistence on accepting the future is reminiscent of Stephen's autobiographical struggle with letting his mother go.