Eclipse Theatre Company has made a name for itself by tackling a single playwright each season, but Keith Reddin is undoubtedly the least known they've attempted. Unfortunately, their first offering of his work leaves something to be desired.

Frame 312 imagines that the original Zapruder tape of the Kennedy assassination did not get turned over to the FBI, but instead ended up in the possession of Lynette, a Time-Life secretary who kept it secret for 30-odd years. We see the chain of events leading up to her possession of the tape, interspersed with scenes of her birthday party with her two children 30 years later.

On the one hand, the scenes from 1960's vary in style from an almost camp level of pseudo espionage—one of the best exchanges of the night emerges between a hyper-paranoid Lynette (Nora Newbrough) and a laconic FBI agent (John Byrnes)—to the realistic. There is always a sense, however, that Big Things Are Happening, even if it's only the imagination of the main character. In the 1990's, the opposite holds true. Everything—and everyone—is small. The family doesn't get along. Lynette's son (John Byrnes) grasps and manipulates. Her daughter (Krishna Sallman) suffers from depression and acute cynicism. Neither get along with their mother (played in the 90's by Donna McGough). It's all extremely petty and the emergence of the long kept secret—the original Zapruder tape—doesn't elevate the proceedings. If anything, the tape gets the blame for the poor state of Lynette's family.

It's certainly possible to tell compelling stories of little people caught up and run over by big events, but Reddin isn't up to the task. Lynette's paralyzed state makes her inactive and unsympathetic—a small person who couldn't handle her burden. McGough and director Steven Fedoruk don't succeed in lending her color and her final choice—to rid herself of the burdensome tape—feels unmotivated and inexplicable.

Frame 312 doesn't do much to justify Eclipse's choice to focus on Reddin this season. One hopes their remaining offerings, Brutality of Fact and Big Time, expose him as a playwright capable of stronger work than appears here.

Frame 312—Eclipse Theatre Company

Chris Jones, Tribune—"Despite a minimal setting, (director Steven) Fedoruk forges quite a savvy and suave production replete with compelling transitions and a number of excellent performances—including Donna McGough as a middle-age women with a terrible secret, Krishna Sallman as her alienated daughter and Gary Simmers as the dying man who gives her the poisonous film. It ripples along very nicely, alternating 1960s scenes of intrigue with 1990s scenes of domestic sadness. It's a good story, carefully told. There are times when actors forget the tiny size of the space and push too hard. But despite one's initial resistance to yet another play riffing metaphorically off the grassy knoll, the show still works its way into the skull—in (playwright Keith) Reddin's quiet, brooding, intense, complex, offbeat, subtextual kind of way. He fits in well in Chicago.”

Mary Houlihan, Sun-Times—"Director Steven Fedoruk keeps these shifting scenes moving smoothly; the cast is precise at capturing the little ticks that make a character memorable. Especially good are the actresses—Nora Newbrough and Donna McGough—who play the young and old Lynette. They create a compelling composite of a woman searching for her place in life. In the end, Frame 312 doesn't reveal any insights into conspiracy theories or the Kennedy assassination. The revelations here are more of the emotional kind as Lynette finally comes to terms with her past, present and future. In the play's final moments, she purges herself once and for all of the secret that has hounded her. It is a resonant moment of hope on a road to rebirth.”

Tony Adler, Reader—"Well, when it comes to the Kennedy assassination just about anything is believable. And yet this play isn't. It fails on a historical level because it never accounts for the incredible amount of attention showered on the Zapruder film—and the question of its authenticity—since the day it was made. It fails on a narrative level because Lynette never takes commonsense precautions like putting the reel in a safe-deposit box. It fails dramatically because Reddin never connects the Zapruder bit to his depiction of Lynette's dysfunctional family. It fails onstage, despite some good performances, because Steven Fedoruk's production is way too earnest. The most one can say is that the show gestures wanly toward a message about what's true in a world of malleable images. Which isn't enough.”

Nina Metz, Newcity—"For almost two decades, plays by Northwestern grad Keith Reddin were a regular staple here in Chicago. And then, quite suddenly, they weren't. And while Reddin has continued working (quite successfully) as an actor and playwright in New York (his place of residence since college), it is odd that not one of his plays has been staged in Chicago since 1997. At any rate, it has left a nice little opening for Eclipse Theatre, which devotes each season to the work of a single playwright, to step in and attempt a resurrection, of sorts. Frame 312, receiving its Midwest premiere, is an ironic comedy/kitchen-sink drama dressed up as a JFK assassination conspiracy piece... The play and production are flawed in small ways, but overall, it is a solidly engaging show directed by Steven Fedoruk, who keeps the pace (and comedy) snapping along as the action shifts between Lynette's then-and-now realities.”

Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—"Reddin is painfully sincere but the play stumbles from the start. Clumsily and unquestioningly, he equates Lynette's personal tribulations with the nation's loss of innocence. Once you realize that Reddin is spinning off one more version of the second gunman theory (and implicitly blaming L.B.J. for killing Kennedy), Lynette's domestic scenes in the 1990s seem mere plot padding. Plus the half-baked explanation of how the Zapruder film ('the most famous snuff film in history') got doctored immediately after its discovery doesn't bear scrutiny, nor how Lynette retained the original film (which was controlled by the Zapruder family). Steven Fedoruk's staging digs hard to find any depth in this easy indictment of American alienation, but Donna McGough's haunted Lynette only seems more anguished than the facts could warrant. But then in an overblown drama everything must be played for more than it's worth.”

Venus Zarris, Gay Chicago—"Eclipse Theatre's production and staging are good. The delivery, although tight, has little connection and so seems sterile and telegraphed. Because the play is as much about detachment as it is about conspiracy, this works on a surface level but fails to satisfy. There is not much chemistry, good or bad, between most of the characters, and so there is little build or engaging tension... Much of the fault lies in the script itself. It seems to be a combination of too many elements that don't work well together, resembling a recipe from a Betty Crocker Cookbook that is trying too hard.”

Rick Reed, Windy City—"It's Reddin's thesis to demonstrate the powerful impact the historical can have on our personal life, and he renders that thesis superbly here, with economy and power. Lucky for him (and director Steven Fedoruk) that he has a very talented cast and capable creative team to bring his story to life. In a casting coup, Eclipse has managed to find two actresses to portray the 1960s and 1990s Lynettes who are nearly identical. If they weren't on the stage simultaneously, one might assume they were the same person. It's not just their appearance, but also the abilities of the actresses (Nora Newbrough and Donna McGough, respectively) to essentially play the same character, one young and idealistic and the other jaded and tired of harboring a secret. But each retains a certain quality that makes the audience believe with certainty that, at the core, they are the same.”

[the] Violent Sex—Visions and Voices Theatre Co.

Michael Phillips, Tribune—"In a good production staged by Jessi D. Hill, (Janelle) Snow's Gwen stands out. There's solid work as well from Brian Alan Hill, who can't do much about Dan's self-aggrandizing BS, but who can certainly keep his head above the worst of it. Tom Hickey saves his best stuff for last as John, guiding the Act 2 climax with cannily escalating rage. As Penny, Jennifer Pompa creates a wryly comic and ultimately bittersweet portrayal. (Playwright David Scott) Hay's characters fall periodically into interior-monologue mode, wherein their thoughts are spoken aloud. Mistake. The play keeps tripping itself up with things like that. Yet there are some absorbing scenes, at least as handled in this production. [the] Violent Sex, obviously ripped straight from Hay's guts, may be one of those bugs a writer has to get out of his system before moving on to better, more complex material.”

Mary Houlihan, Sun-Times—"Hay displays a biting, sarcastic wit that inflames the deep-seated confusion and unhappiness of his characters. A sort of new-generation mix of Albee-Mamet-Shephard, he lacerates relationships and lays bare the emotions and deceit that feed them. His writing is witty, smart and precise; there is not a wasted word in this play. [the] Violent Sex is receiving its world premiere in a concise and superbly acted production staged by Visions & Voices Theatre, where Hay is literary director. Director Jessi D. Hill uses a light, confident touch, allowing the emotions to erupt in a realistic, natural way.”

Jack Helbig, Daily Herald—"Part of the problem is that Hay's characters don't do anything, they talk. And talk. And talk. Everyone seems on the verge of doing something, but no one does anything—until the second half of the second act when things heat up (a little)... At a certain point in the evening, I began to wonder why director Jessi D. Hill bothered to have such a nice, detailed set (designed by Susan Kaip) built for this show. Why do we need to see the interior of Dan's small apartment, complete with bookshelves packed with books, when the play is just about a bunch of talking heads? That isn't meant to be a swipe at Hill. Her direction is graceful, and all of the performances are natural and unforced. That's another way of saying that Hill's casting is flawless.”

Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—"More annoying, however, are the frequent interruptions, during which Hay's personnel articulate their innermost thoughts—an unnecessary affectation (like the punctuation of the play's title), since the secrets revealed therein are easily discernible in the surface dialogue, both by the other characters and by us.”

Critic's Quote:

"People in the drama business have a never-ending fascination with the story behind the Work Progress Administration-funded production of The Cradle Will Rock. This is born of a nostalgic fantasy. These days, most American theatres struggle to achieve any political relevance whatsoever. Yet in 1937, a pro-union stage musical from the unimportant Marc Blitzstein was so potentially incendiary that a variety of threatened parties went to a great deal of trouble to try to shut the darn thing down. Art prevailed, of course. But it's such attention a lot of theatrical professionals now covet.”—Chris Jones reviewing TimeLine's production of The Cradle Will Rock in the Tribune.