I saw a performance of Heroes of the Fourth Turning last night at SpeakEasy Stage in Boston. It has enough similarities The Inheritance written by Matthew Lopez, which I saw this summer, that the differences are interesting. Both plays feature adult Millennials living in the late 2010's, some of whom are happily assured of where they are in life while others are still meandering; both plays have well-read characters for some reason; they are confronted with generational gap with their elders on their side of politics; the characters display feelings ranging from enmity to friendship founded on common loss and suffering towards those on the other side of the aisle.

I think what worked with me about Heroes that kinda didn't with The Inheritance is the emotional connection with the characters. It's kind of hard for your emotion to be heightened when you already agree politically with the characters. But when Teresa quietly says, "I'm just scared that my wedding isn't going to be beautiful," you recognize that she just wants a wedding with love in the air instead of hate, even if she herself partakes in stoking the flame. Or when Kevin recounts a dream he had about a figure descending a mountain holding the missing Commandments, you can almost understand his painful longing for that missing something even if you were never spiritual in your life. The moments of vulnerability are compelling because the audience disagrees with the politics of these characters.