Blackbird, now receiving its Midwest premiere from Profiles Theatre, should be an early frontrunner for the “Least Likely to be Toured to High Schools Award.” This two-person story from Adam Rapp offers an unflinching look at misery and two lives caught in a quickening downward spiral.

If you feel bad about your life, Blackbird may prove uplifting by comparison. Baylis, a Gulf War veteran, had the misfortune to badly hurt his back after being discharged, and is living on disability in a rented room with no plumbing and a window broken by an overly persistent blackbird. He’s also being sued for beating a man in a bar fight, and to top it off, his back condition has made him incontinent. Froggy, an 18 (or so) year old, has run away from home and took up stripping before meeting Baylis, and now has a heroin problem and has contracted hepatitis, which has advanced to the point where she’s turning yellow. This is only the start of their problems; their conditions worsen throughout the play.

Well-acted by Darrell W. Cox and Lindsay Gould, the production never quite becomes enjoyable to watch because it’s all so miserable. Rapp’s point seems to be that some situations have no exit except death—hardly uplifting. Baylis and Froggy fight, fool around, clean each other up (we actually see Cox wipe himself off after soiling his pants on a trip to the store—an image that drove one audience member out of the theatre) and generally collide with each other in the small apartment, but it’s hard to really like either of them. Their only redemption, it seems, is in each other.

And indeed, the most effective scenes in this difficult play come at the end, after these difficult characters have worn themselves out. The true emotional bond between them becomes increasingly apparent, right about the time the audience is hoping someone will put them out of their misery.

Joe Jahraus has constructed a solid production and Cox and Gould offer nicely nuanced performances and have good chemistry with each other, but it’s hard to characterize this production as enjoyable. More horrifying, in a riveting sort of way. Not for everyone, Blackbird will be arresting for those who can stomach it.

Blackbird—Profiles Theatre

Chris Jones, Tribune—“This situation—two lovers looking for salvation in each other—hardly brims with sociological insights. And as we watch Baylis and Froggy negotiate for their respective needs as surrogate parent and child, we’re not dazzled with dramaturgical originality. But for all that, Blackbird (directed by Joe Jahraus) is a very affecting little character study. The typical rap against Rapp is that he’s an upscale intellectual and trendy writer whose obsession with the edges of life doesn’t always seem exactly organic. But unlike his Finer Noble Gases, the self-consciously dark mores of Blackbird are leavened by some intensely lyrical writing and a palpable sweetness and concern for the human soul.”

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“Watching the actors who throw themselves into Rapp’s story—Darrell W. Cox, a local stage veteran…and Lindsay Gould, a blazing newcomer and recent Northwestern University graduate—you have to wonder how they will sustain the crazy combination of emotional abandon, physical chaos and redemptive poetry his play demands. Things are not any easier for the audience. But these two are so good you root for them as a sort of sick, pitch-black variation on Romeo and Juliet.”

Brian Nemtusak, Reader—“Darrell W. Cox and Lindsay Gould are up to the task of this daunting actors’ workout, delivering gorgeously nuanced, exceptionally brave, acutely realistic performances that leave the audience plastered in their seats. As Baylis and Froggy—a disabled gulf war vet and ex-stripper junkie sharing a New York squat—they play out Rapp’s sure-handed exercise in motel-room fatalism with the queer, transfixing dignity of souls denied any, and under Joe Jahraus’s direction find the fading magic at the heart of their doomed romance. Ultimately much of their story is familiar, but Rapp’s intense distillation, combined with the focus of this Midwest premiere, transcends convention: this is how downbeat should be done.”

Scott C. Morgan, Windy City—“These basic facts alone make Blackbird sound like a pummeling exercise in wrist-slitting drama. The question for audiences is if they really want to spend nearly two hours with these two unlucky souls at the bottom of the heap? Thankfully, all is not so bleak with Profiles Theatre’s skilled Midwest debut of Blackbird. Even with the debilitating odds faced by the self-destructing characters and their distressing revelations that are dumped throughout the play, Profiles Theatre nearly comes out with a winning hand on Blackbird…Blackbird also flies on the one-two-punch of Profiles associate artistic director Darrell W. Cox as Baylis and the guidance of artistic director Joe Jahraus as director. Both use Blackbird to find theatrical treasure by wallowing in Blackbird’s depressing depths.”

The Fall to Earth—Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“In recent years, [Rondi] Reed, an actress who is so natural onstage that it is often all too easy to overlook how amazingly good she is, has become mistress of a particular domain—the somewhat dowdy Middle American woman in uneasy middle age. It may not be the most glamorous territory, but Reed has tapped into the deepest vein of emotional truth, restlessness and agony that lies within it. And she makes it impossible to dismiss…(I)t is Reed’s show. And as she gives herself over completely to Fay’s rants, to her omniverous appetites, to her fears and neediness, to her isolation, to her uncontrolled passion and controlling ways, you realize that there may be more famous actresses in the Steppenwolf family, but there is no one better.”

Nina Metz, New City—“Steppenwolf ensemble member Rick Snyder (seen with Reed in Man From Nebraska last fall) is a considerable directing talent and here he gives his actors the freedom to tap into even the smallest of tics—Fay’s sticky fingers clutching and nervously pressing at her taupe fake-leather purse—in ways that feel utterly necessary rather than indulgent. It’s one of Reed’s better (and showier) performances to date, and you can’t take your eyes off her Fay, an unexpected personality that brings to mind Stuart Smalley, by way of Medea.”

Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—“Interestingly, Fall to Earth proves most riveting in its open-ended Kenny, the character we can’t meet. Though the play tellingly examines abuse from all sides, it’s the mute testimony of this lost lad who loved to watch the Animal Planet channel and flirted a bit too much, that haunts us when it’s over. It’s always fascinating to watch how the small talk that opens a play slowly churns into whirlpools and rip tides. Soon every word matters. Good actors, like this gripping trio, make the most, not just of the moments of truth, but of the even more wrenching untruths.”

The Merchant of Venice—Strawdog Theatre Company

Chris Jones, Tribune—“The Strawdog Theatre’s slick and contemporary production of The Merchant of Venice, under the direction of newcomer G.J. Cederquist, is a classic example of a very stylish and hip show wherein the cup runneth over with fascinating ideas yet the enterprise is undermined by too much overblown acting of the collegiate, back-slapping variety. For every thoughtful, intelligent moment, there’s an equivalent screech that illuminates only a pain in the head. And for every credible soul under pressure, there’s a cartoon on the run.”

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“For a good deal of the time, all the pieces in Cederquist’s modern version of the play (with a terrifically evocative architectural set by Elizabeth Schuch) fall into place, and the dialogue assumes a solidly colloquial ring. Business meetings are held in a bar near the Rialto Bridge. Sleek attache cases hold the riddles that will enable the aristocratic Portia to detect the proper husband...As for Shylock, he is played by Sean Sinitski with a sharp, street-wise edge honed by discrimination and pragmatism. And Sinitski taps into just the right mix of anger, sarcasm and wit when confronted by his gentile abusers. But he also does two things that don’t make sense and that seriously skew the story. In one case he uses his walking stick to beat his servant for no apparent reason, an action that instantly turns him into an unsympathetic bully. Most troubling of all, in the play’s final moment, after Shylock has lost everything and been forced into a humiliating conversion to Christianity, he merely shrugs his shoulders, gives a rueful smile and moves on. What are we to make of this? What are we to feel about this man? Is Shylock no more than a cynical survivor?”

Justin Hayford, Reader—“Cederquist’s fast-paced, exuberant staging is in fact entertaining (though the platonic spin on Bassanio and Antonio’s relationship weakens the credibility of Antonio’s life-or-death risk). No opportunity for humor is neglected and the collision between frat-boy sensibility and Elizabethan decorum consistently elicits laughs…But this comedic approach minimizes the Venetians’ venality. Shylock, on the other hand, is unmistakably dark, if often very human in Sean Sinitski’s nuanced and seductive portrayal…It’s a smart and moving characterization and in a different production it might have provided a meaningful foil to the self-righteous Christians. But in this production, Shylock is the only character with an ugly side, the killjoy at the all-night Venetian party.”

Trying—Victory Gardens

Michael Phillips, Tribune—“Tall and wide-eyed, slightly unsettling in her intensity, Brazda’s Sarah is almost eerily precise whilst executing quotidian duties (typing, filing, defending her Canadian-ness). Brazda gives a strong performance, albeit one carrying an undercurrent: Is this woman about to EXPLODE? A little more less might be helpful. Also Brazda’s dialect comes and goes. But she’s a unique and intriguing presence. Weaver may bobble a line or three, but the topspin he gives such simple rejoinders as 'Madam, you are bold,’ is enough to destroy any objections. Thanks largely to this 78-year-old stage veteran, who has obviously learned a lot about winning over an audience without sucking up to one, Trying is trying only now and then, and quite satisfying on its own terms most of the rest of the way.”

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“To put it simply: Trying, now in its world premiere at Victory Gardens Theatre, is one of the finest pieces of theatre I have seen in many years, with a script that unquestionably should be a Pulitzer Prize contender, and a performance by Weaver (beautifully supported by Kati Brazda, an actress of supreme intelligence and suppressed heat), that will leave an indelible mark on all those lucky enough to see it…This sophisticated, artfully written play soars under Sandy Shinner’s impeccable direction. Glass has given us a glittering, diamond-hard script that is all but flawless. Only its title—which fails to capture the ferocity of the material—and an unnecessary bit involving a phone call from Ethel Kennedy, need to be altered before it moves on to what should be a long run in New York and beyond.”

Critic’s Quote:

“Playwrights know it, and the good ones even admit it sometimes: When the right actor gets hold of their stuff and does that voodoo that some do so well, it’s like a Vulcan mind-meld between the actor and the character inside the playwright’s head. The result is alchemic. The material may never be as vividly inhabited again. And the audience cannot believe its collective luck.”—Michael Phillips reviewing Actor Theatre of Louisville’s Ashley in the Tribune.