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Head of Passes

(steppenwolf.org)

(steppenwolf.org)

WHAT: Head of Passes
WHEN: April 4 – June 9, 2013 (schedule)
WHERE: 1650 N. Halsted Ave.
RUN TIME: 2 hours with a ten-minute intermission
WHO: Steppenwolf Theatre Company
PRICE: $15-$78

OUR RATING: Do it!

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

As is traditional, Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues to churn out a plethora of plays that one can classify as “living room dramas;” in other words most, if not all the action takes place in the homes of the characters, and that home becomes a central character in itself. Indeed, the house is one of the main protagonists in ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney’s newest work, set in the Louisiana marshes and brimming with superb oceanic symbolism. The home has a sense of fallen grandeur about it, as its dilapidation turns to ruin, much in the same way we see the decline and fall of the matriarch residing within.

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Head of Passes, said by McCraney to be loosely inspired by the Book of Job, charts the course of dying Shelah (Cheryl Lynn Bruce), as she is swept up in the surprise festivities for her birthday, thrown by her adult children. Her life seems to be defined by only pain and devotion to God, one begetting the other, although it seems clear that the question of which came first weighs heavy on Shelah’s mind. Bruce’s depiction is solid and captivating, even if some of the scripting is rather long.

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Similarly captivating is actor Chris Boykin, playing the Angel in Act 1 and a construction worker in Act 2. His charisma floods the stage and the parallel between his two characters is riveting and forceful. Our only complaint is director Tina Landau’s ignorance towards the house right audience in regards to staging Boykin, who is turned away from this audience for most of Act 1, leaving them in the dark in regards to many important physical gestures he displays.

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Perhaps most powerfully, Scenic Designer David Gallo and Scenic Design Consultant Collette Pollard conjure up Mother Nature in their fantastically magical set design. You can feel the creaks and dampness of the Head of Passes and the ongoing storm outside the house is brought inside with great ferocity. Beginning with a few drips of water on stage, the set is catapulted by winds and rain, ending with the house subsiding chaotically at the end of Act 1. A true feat of engineering, and a wonder to watch.

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Scott Zielinski’s lighting design dances hand-in-hand with the scenic design, and one can feel the power of the storm and the magic of what happens on stage with his strings of lights, extreme side-lighting, and the beautiful shadows cast within the home as Mother Nature shifts and does her work. Unfortunately, one is slightly distracted by Michael Bodeen and Rob Milburn’s sound design through it all, as the sound doesn’t seem real but rather far-off and full of static. Perhaps this was an artistic choice, but it’s far too dissonant for our liking.

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

(Photo by Michael Brosilow)

Ultimately, this world premiere of Head of Passes takes its audience on one heck of a roller-coaster, and leaves us pondering our life choices and convictions and allows us to contemplate how we define our family and our idea of home. Tragedy is an unfortunate yet exceedingly human element to every life. How one deals with it defines their character, whether they be resilient, avoidant, vengeful or forgiving. McCraney’s exploration of these ideas enhances our appreciation for the high complexity of everyday life and how we too must all face tragedy.

The Birthday Party

WHAT: The Birthday Party
WHEN: January 24 – April 28, 2013
WHERE: 1650 N. Halsted Ave.
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 30 minutes with two 10-minute intermissions
HOST: Steppenwolf Theatre Company
PRICE: $15-$78

OUR RATING: Chance It!

(Credit: Sandro)

(Credit: Sandro)

Ambiguity takes and reigns the stage in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party, now playing until March 3rd in Steppenwolf’s newly configured Upstairs Theatre in Lincoln Park. Directed by ensemble member Austin Pendleton and starring an epic cast of Steppenwolf ensemble members Ian Barford, Francis Guinan, Moira Harris and John Mahoney (along with Marc Grapey and Sophie Sinise), Steppenwolf’s take on Pinter’s nightmarish dark-comic classic is lukewarm at best.

(Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Moira Harris, Ian Barford, Sophia Sinise, Francis Guinan and Marc Grapey (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Set in a seaside English boarding house, this comedy of menace is absurd to say the least, with a fluid and questionable sense of time, place, identity and context. To put it simply, the lives of owners Meg (Moira Harris) and Petey (John Mahoney) and their guest Stanley (Ian Barford) are turned upside down with the arrival of two mysterious strangers (Francis Guinan and Marc Grapey). Other aspects of the plot are given step by step and questioned along the way, leaving the audience to piece together the rest of the story.

Steppenwolf’s new configuration of their Upstairs Theatre definitely adds some excitement to the piece, now bringing their audience closer in a new alley (traverse) staging that provides a unique and slightly uncomfortable intimacy with both the stage and the audience on the other side.

(Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Barford and Harris (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

However, the most essential pieces of a Pinter play are unfortunately found missing in this production. The classic suspense and menace that pervade each of his works, including The Birthday Party, are only subtle here, leaving the audience without the unique creepiness and spine-tingling feeling of risk that one usually associates with the Nobel laureate’s work. After reading the play, one feels a certain amount of discomfort and tension that is refreshing and exciting and scary all at the same time. But Pendleton’s direction seems more stagnant and lacks this sense of the dramatic, with a few hapless cameos of the over-dramatic.

(Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Guinan and Grapey (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

In addition to this, the setting, which is clearly stated by Pinter to be a southern English town (as mentioned on several occasions in the media), does not seem to have mattered to whoever provided guidance for accents on this production. Dialects seem to range from northern working class (Mahoney), Thespian London (Guinan), and indiscernible (Welsh?) (Harris). This added to the confused feeling of the production and was perhaps intentional. However, it still doesn’t forgive some of the poorer accent approximations given by certain members of the cast, which are simply unnecessary with the proper training. We, however, blame this more so on a failing of the voice coach than any of the actors themselves.

John Mahoney and Francis Guinan (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

Mahoney and Guinan (Credit: Michael Brosilow)

This doesn’t negate the fact that the acting as a whole is superb, with stellar performances from Francis Guinan and John Mahoney, although Mahoney’s part is much smaller than we would have liked. Each of these theatrical veterans bring a whole lot of punch to this play, with Mahoney’s strange vulnerability and the lovable, yet terrifying, character of Guinan’s.

While the average ticket price may be a bit too steep for this production, Steppenwolf offers some pretty awesome ticket discounts, including $15 student tickets and twenty $20 tickets to every single show. Twenty bucks to see some top Steppenwolf acting of Pinter’s ominous absurd-ism may just be worth it.

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