A Touching Portrait of ‘David’s Mother’

Sally is before all things “David’s Mother,” a woman who confuses self-sacrifice with martyrdom, love with suffocation and fostering dependency with protection. The Company of Angels gives a well-acted, heartfelt interpretation of Bob Randall’s touching drama about a mother who becomes overly dependent on her autistic son.

Humorously caustic Sally (Suanne Spoke) lives alone in a shabby New York apartment with her autistic son David (Tom Slovick). Her unhealthy devotion vacillates between loving concern and bitter resentment. Yet, through a series of flashbacks, we perceive how this obsessive mothering has driven her daughter (Laura Galt) and ex-husband (Al Sapienza) away from her and how this same cycle now threatens Sally’s budding romance with a wealthy widower (Tom Knickerbocker).

Steve Muscarella directs a faultless cast, never allowing the actors to slip into maudlin excess. Slovick is convincing as the 17-year-old autistic man-child. His face beams with angelic innocence or childlike delight, but remains haunted by a vacant stare. As Sally, Spoke captures the long-term caretaker’s dilemma of captivity imposed by guilt and her own neediness. Judy Kain gives a winning performance as Sally’s sister, a woman worn nearly to tears from struggling to understand and help her sister.

* “David’s Mother,” Angels Theatre, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Feb. 9. $15. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.