The Timekeeper

Jeff Webster plays a blind clock repairman with the heart of a poet—and he’s got Alzheimer’s disease, which brings his college professor son (Paul Hauck) home to care for him. The heart of this play is in its language. Local playwright—and proprietor of the Thistle Dew Dessert Theatre—Thomas M. Kelly has made a family game of quoting poetry and prose for Liam and his son, stressing the power of memory to create relationships and adds, in addition to his own words, passages from the great works of the last two centuries. It’s a tragedy with heart.
Thistle Dew Dessert Theatre 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with a 2 p.m. matinee on March 9. $25, with dessert included. 1901 P Street; (916) 444-8209. Reservations required, www.thistle-dew.net. Through March 14. K.M.