4-25-08
Los Desaparecidos Fun, But Not Quite Ready
Babes With Blades, faced with a paucity of scripts featuring combat opportunities for women, hit upon an idea: the play contest. In specific: find a work of art featuring women fighting and use that as the jumping off point. Their current offering, Los Desaparecidos (The Vanished) by Barbara Lhota, won the second round of their “Joining Sword & Pen.”
The problems with producing contest winners are much the same as those producing a commissioned work. The deadlines are set before the needs of the play can be considered—because the play is still an unknown. Los Desaparecidos, while a fun viewing, has many of those problems.
Set in 16th century Spain, Los Desaparecidos tells the story of two unconventional noblewomen who were trained to fight by their deceased father, a captain in the Spanish army. Because of their unusual pastimes, they must live carefully, lest they draw the wrong sort of attention from the local priest and townsfolk. However, growing love affairs—the older Diana (a stern Stephanie Repin) with a Muslim dressmaker, the younger Isabel (the more spritely Meghan M. Martinez) with a female servant—threaten their lifestyles and their lives.
At its heart, this is historical romance, but with more-than-usual friendliness to gay relationships. And it’s enjoyable in much the same way that a romance novel is enjoyable (although with less overt sexuality). But there’s no real reason a story like this should go on beyond two hours, and another round or two of development could certainly have whittled and refined the story.
Director David Woolley’s production exacerbates the script’s problems. Scene changes bog the action down. The performances vary in quality and tend towards the overwrought. And, surprisingly, many of the fights appear tentative and a step slower than those in other BWB productions I’ve seen. Perhaps the use of an outside choreographer, Woolley serving double duty, rather than the self-choreography more common to BWB’s productions prevented a more physically integrated performance.
While the above problems prevent Los Desaparecidos from excelling, there are still pleasures to be found. The story may be predictable in places, but there are certainly some twists and turns that took me by surprise. And Lhota avoids the common trap of historical drama—hopelessly elevated language. Instead, she finds some real humor, particularly for the old servant Marisol (a droll Lisa Herceg).
So it’s no masterpiece but how many productions are? If you enjoy historical drama, combat, hidden plots and romance, you’ll probably find something to enjoy in Los Desaparecidos.
Los Desaparecidos (The Vanished), Babes With Blades
Jack Helbig, Reader—“There are plenty of women wielding weaponry in Chicago playwright Barbara Lhota’s period piece about a pair of swashbuckling sisters, written specifically for Babes with Blades. And Lhota’s wonderfully overheated story of intrigue and forbidden love contains so many complicated relationships and surprising plot twists it feels like an English-language version of a telenovela. The script, which could use a little trimming, is not always well served by David Woolley’s direction. But Stephanie Repin and Meghan M. Martinez are terrific as the two sisters.”
Craig Keller, Time Out—“Caked as it is in soap, Desaparecidos remains too freshly scrubbed for the persecution—pointedly displayed by a sadistic priest’s exorcism of one sister, Isabel (Martinez)—to have any real edge. In fact, the company could stand to tune up the farcical elements: In the play’s most effective scene, a surrogate lover (Leonard) hired by Isabel’s husband (Paul Martinez) is emasculated when his Zorro-wannabe shtick is unmasked. But this seems a hair-splitting quibble for melodrama that amounts to pretext for the grand-finale showdown duel—the Babes’ raison d’?tre. With parries and thrusts this enthusiastic, rapier wit is almost an afterthought.”
In a Dark Dark House, Profiles Theatre
Chris Jones, Tribune—“(Darrell W.) Cox, the actor who has anchored most of Profiles’ LaBute season, seems suddenly older in this show. He has frequently played a sleazeball, but this character takes him to a more vulnerable spot. And the erudite [Hans] Fleischmann is a very effective contrast in Joe Jahraus’ solid production. Meanwhile, [Allison] Torem’s character is both engaging and disturbing. I wouldn’t say the acting here goes as deep as it could (and yet might) or that all the contrasts are in full relief. And you may find yourself resisting some of the script’s later revelations. But In a Dark Dark House plays out exactly as the title implies.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The ambivalent, the ambiguous, the invented and the potentially calamitous meet here, with director Joe Jahraus deftly orchestrating the intersection. Who is lying and who is telling the truth? Who is the victim and who is the perpetrator? The truth is, events of the past and present seem to coalesce into one endless, warped loop, with the damage factor increasing exponentially…Fleischmann, who just did such a splendid job directing the Mary-Arrchie Theater production of Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker, expertly captures Drew’s nauseating passive-aggressive nature, while Cox, an old LaBute hand by now, is ideal as the volatile Terry, a man who knows he is damaged goods.”
Justin Hayford, Reader—“After years of writing glibly brutal plays about bad male behavior, Neil LaBute has discovered empathy—and produced a heartbreaking drama. Drew, a disbarred attorney, dallies in court-ordered rehab. He’s summoned his brother, a tight-lipped security guard named Terry, to testify to the horrors of their childhood and elicit a lenient sentence from the judge. LaBute exposes both men as wounded beasts trapped in a culture that demands either swagger or silence in lieu of emotional honesty. Director Joe Jahraus’s Midwest premiere production is richly nuanced and exquisitely paced.”
Nina Metz, New City—“Cox gives a killer performance in the first scene when the brothers come face-to-face. It’s the yuppie versus the beard, and Cox tunes his voice low and rumbly, like he just woke up—and in some ways, his character just did. Cox can’t sustain that controlled momentum in later scenes—some of that is due to the script—and the production loses its direction. The play isn’t perfect. The last-minute revelations, a LaBute trademark by now, don’t offer much narratively speaking. But you are left with the sense that something real and quantifiable and scarily human just happened on stage this night. Dismiss it at your peril.”
Kris Vire, Time Out—“It’s not that this script strays too far from LaBute’s beaten path and his trademark ‘shocking’ twists, normally telegraphed long before they’re revealed. (Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The foreshadow knows.) But the playwright does have a few new tricks up his sleeve; he zags when you think he’ll zig. The third and final scene is so jam-packed with reveals that we can barely keep up, but at least LaBute surprises us: For once, he tempers betrayal and bile with a sentiment closer to benign.”
Web Behrens, Free Press—“There’s a tiny budget but a lot of talent on display here. Jahraus inventively stages the action on a bi-level set designed by Brandon Wardell that also bisects the tiny theater, seating the audience on either side. (The actors are so compelling, you never notice half the audience watching from the other side.) Eric Burgher contributes a nicely unobtrusive, smart sound design.”
Lust, Lies and Marriage, Piccolo Theatre
Justin Hayford, Reader—“Italian commedia dell’arte expert Antonio Fava directs this world premiere based on a centuries-old scenario. The cast fleshes out the sketchy plot by tossing in topical references, cartoon sound effects, original music, and so many convoluted asides that the two-hour evening feels twice as long. Only half of his cast seems comfortable with commedia’s bawdy, farcical conventions. But when things click (essentially, anytime the rubber-boned Sam Wootten appears) commedia’s earthy, antiestablishment ridicule comes sparklingly to life.”
Kay Daly, Time Out—“At the very least, one must appreciate the enormity of Fava’s effort. He and his company have worked hard to resurrect the spirit and form of the style, from the nicely rendered masks and costumes to the over-the-top physicality. And when the most accomplished performers take the stage, it’s clear why the commedia style was so popular in its day. Such is the case with Piccolo founder John Szostek, Deborah Craft and the wonderful Sam Wootten, all of whom deliver nuanced, infectious performances despite the distractions of cumbersome masks and chaotic plotting. Their achievement is even clearer in comparison with some of the less-skilled cast members, who offer more flailing and shouting than comedy.”
Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City—“This effort by Piccolo Theatre is the second-best commedia I’ve seen, which is saying a lot. It was developed and directed by Italian master Antonio Fava, returning to Chicago as a guest artist. His Piccolo troupe has a strong sense of action, comic technique and physical contrast…Even with commedia’s fast pace the show seems a little long, and 95 minutes without an intermission might make a better evening.”
A Passage to India, Vitalist Theatre
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“Under Carlin-Metz’s fluid, insightful direction (with rich choreography by Alka Nayyar), the cast illumines all the subtlety and complexity of Forster’s vision. And the life of India—from elephant and carriage rides, to Hindu festivals and dance (led by the rapturously beautiful Amira Sabbagh), to Muslim poetry, to high social comedy—is rendered with flair. Madrid St. Angelo’s mischievous narrator and Jeremy Clark’s liberal schoolteacher are full of punch, as is the entire ensemble. And the show’s masterful Mughal-style set (by Craig Choma), costumes (Rachel Sypniewski), lighting (Richard Norwood) and sound (Gregor Mortis) make Passage a seductive voyage of discovery.”
Chris Jones, Tribune—“But the production just doesn’t find the kind of swirling theatrical metaphor that could simplify and amplify the great sweep of Forster’s narrative—and that might give this very choppy and fussy production the fluid-but-cohesive core it badly needs. This jagged show, which comes in not far short of three hours, tends to get bogged down with props, little unnecessary details and the other familiar detritus of literary adaptation…The show starts out reasonably well. But as the action intensifies, the huge confrontations all tend to flatten out into broad, dull, melodramatic generalities with a lot of movement, shouting and flashy slow-motion action, but not so much focused two-way conversation.”
Tony Adler, Reader—“Bent playwright Martin Sherman has written a smart, sensitive, even wise stage version of the E.M. Forster novel about a clash of cultures in British India after World War I—and Elizabeth Carlin-Metz’s Vitalist Theatre production comes incredibly close to doing it justice. The scenic design by Craig Choma is clever and evocative. Various danced vignettes are powerful. Madrid St. Angelo’s idiosyncratic Hindu narrator, Godbole, is a delight, and Jeremy Clark’s Fielding expresses the paradox of a good man in a colonial environment. But performances in some other major roles are weak, creating a hole—or, more accurately, a fog—where the central drama should be.”
Fabrizio O. Almeida, New City—“Carlin-Metz’s imaginative staging keeps the story moving right along—scenes melt into one another and slow-motion technique is effectively employed—while Sherman brings out its soul. So while Forster’s larger concerns concerning British colonialism of India and the ensuing cultural collisions of the social, moral and spiritual kind remain intact, Sherman makes explicit what Forster and Lean tackled implicitly: the sexual awakening of a plain-Jane British woman and the homoerotic tension between an English schoolmaster and a Muslim doctor.”
Kris Vire, Time Out—“Forster’s 1924 novel is largely concerned with the slipperiness of perception and the disorienting effect of unfamiliar culture. Sherman’s adaptation captures little of this, focusing almost entirely on the British mistreatment of the Indians. The British are reduced to bigoted caricatures; there’s a sort of ‘thank goodness we aren’t like that anymore’ self-satisfaction in Sherman’s script, of the same sort that’s often present in works looking back at America’s racial history. But Carlin-Metz’s lavishly rendered production smoothes over the script’s heavy-handedness. The endlessly imaginative interplay between her strongly physical directing and Craig Choma’s scenic design and a crop of sturdy performances combine to make this a passage worth taking.”
Web Behrens, Free Press—“If you can manage not to be frustrated by the plot, however, Vitalist is happy to distract you with sumptuous artistry, starting with the set and costumes designs. The meandering first act also includes dance interludes, Indian poetry, and—in one simple but glorious moment worthy of Julie Taymor—a thrilling evocation of an elephant ride. Meanwhile, there’s a delightful mixed-media lobby display by Robin Metz worth taking in. What a shame that all of this admirable effort supports a story that fails to peer deeply enough behind its characters’ actions.”
Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City—“Or so he would have, if Vitalist Theatre director Elizabeth Carlin-Metz had not tempered Sherman’s Anglophobic axe-grinding with plenty of the vivid spectacle that has become this company’s stock-in-trade…Nor are the actors uniformly content to coast on stereotype, Jeremy Clark and Madrid St. Angelo setting the scale for a sweeping epic that, though in need of trimming in its final moments, never demands that we squirm in guilty paroxysms of remorse over ancient wrongs, but instead invites us to contemplate the vagaries of human personalities and their power to transcend parochial mindsets.”
Quote of the Fortnight:
“Using Mary Ann Thebus as a foundation for an evening of theatre is like building your house on rock instead of sand.”—Christopher Piatt reviewing Victory Gardens’ production of Four Places in Time Out.