12-24-04
BY JENN Q. GODDU
After we read a good book, one of the first things we do is tell others about it. We want them to experience the story or the now beloved characters with the same joy and excitement we did.
In Chicago, there are a number of theatre companies taking the desire to share literature to a different level. It’s not enough to press the book into the hands of a new person. Instead, there are many instances of an adapter deciding they want to bring the world of the book to life on stage, allowing a larger audience to become drawn in by an author’s imagination.
A good adaptation can heighten theatre’s strength in bringing people together for a communal experience. More enjoyable even than curling up in a comfy chair with a favorite, dog-eared book, can be the excitement of seeing that familiar tale re-envisioned for the stage. We become part of something bigger as the theatre puts its show before us, as if saying “We read this, we loved it.” Our imagination still has room to roam, filling in our own impressions from the source text, yet we are treated to new ideas and images or crystallizations of a book’s themes.
It is the themes in George Orwell’s books that made him such a hot commodity on Chicago stages this year, especially around the time of the election. Among the productions I saw were Bailiwick Repertory’s inventive remount of its Animal Farm musical and Lookingglass Theatre Company’s new, exhilarating take on 1984.
It was Andrew White’s adaptation of Winston Smith’s plight in 1984 that had a greater impact on me. The audience could be heard laughing at seemingly absurd examples of doublethink or chuckling nervously as it recognized the parallels between Orwell’s dystopian view of life and contemporary reality—but the production was most powerful when we were shocked silent.
Overt references to the United States’ military presence in Iraq or the “war on terror,” were unnecessary as the play already reverberated mightily. Seeing Thomas J. Cox (head-shaved and eerily skinny) following the maze-like paths created by Chris Binder’s moody lighting design, and moving through the grim, moveable industrialized set designed by Geoffrey M. Curley, was provocative. But it was Smith’s feeble frustration as he fulfilled his duties to the state that really made us cringe. The excellent use of John Musial and HMS Media’s film, video and live feed designs instantly reminded us of how easy it is to manipulate the public’s impression of events.
The relevance of the story, even though it was penned in 1949, was heightened by its stage treatment. On the other hand, while Animal Farm may have had solid performances and smart costuming, the songs and awkward staging left this musical with less bite than we expect of Orwell’s barnyard fable.
Another story involving animals I saw adapted for the stage this year was Bongo Larry and the Two Bad Bears at Lifeline Theatre. Alan Donahue adapted two children’s books by Daniel Pinkwater to fill his 50 minutes. The audience interaction might have appealed to the kids—they were taught beat generation vocab—but the production didn’t work as a whole. In smashing the two stories together as one, Donahue created a clumsy script that actually ended up encouraging kids to be black and white when deciding whether someone is cool or not. Not what Pinkwater’s books were about, and certainly not a message I’d want to be sharing with kids at bedtime or an afternoon matinee.
The idea of the Free Associates, Brother Grimm is in the Basement, is a better one. The family show encouraged audiences to realize imagination could transport a child from a bad situation into a “happily ever after” ending. But the improvisations didn’t draw on the magic of Grimm’s fairy tales so much as the character types and there were few laughs to be had here.
The most truly hilarious riffs on literature I enjoyed this year were 500 Clown Frankenstein and 500 Clown Macbeth. The latter is the far more polished and constantly rewarding of the two, but it’s easy to see how these ambitious and inventive clowns will develop their Shelley piece into an equally hilarious piece of physically daring and audaciously funny theatre.
I also saw Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” or a portion of it, adapted for the stage as a solo monologue. As part of the Box Theatre Group’s “Shades of Red” fall offering of spooky stories, Victoria Kallay gave a passionate performance as the driven Doctor. But the best of that evening’s offerings was a rendition of J. Sheridan LeFanu’s “Carmilla” with Amanda M. Burke recounting vampire visitations in a voice fraught with tension.
Another young woman recounting a story with increasing anxiety was Whitney Sneed’s Fraulein Elsë at Court. Francesca Faridany’s adaptation of an Arthur Schnitzler novella had Sneed on stage the entire time, driving the action of the play with a ceaseless interior monologue. Sneed’s Elsë swanned around the stage, at times prattling like a spoiled child, flitting from insecurity about herself and her future to fantasies based in her new recognition of the power her sexuality allows her to wield over men. And the actress was magnetic throughout. She made it abundantly clear when we were privy to her inner thoughts as opposed to when we were witnessing the action itself.
Yet my favorite literary adaptation of the year was Winesburg, Ohio by About Face Theatre at Steppenwolf. First staged two years ago as a one-act, Winesburg, Ohio, was fully fleshed out in 2004 as a rich, original musical with deep resonance. Eric Rosen’s book and lyrics didn’t downplay the sadness of the characters’ loss of love, painful end to passions, or deaths, but it made sure the message of motivating to change one’s life was just as inescapable. All the loneliness and repression so beautifully portrayed on stage before us had us clinging ever tighter to the words of advice offered: “venture anything.” The production made me venture to the bookstore to get a copy of Sherwood Anderson’s book, so for me it came full circle as a love of literature inspired a theatrical endeavor that moved at least this audience member to want to read more, finding a way to keep the experience of those characters and their stories alive just a little longer.
Jenn Q. Goddu is a full-time freelance journalist covering primarily theatre and the arts in Chicago. She reviews regularly for the Chicago Reader and is a frequent contributor to Performink, the Chicago Tribune and other publications. She is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
2004 YEAR-IN-REVIEW
Trends in Chicago Theatre in 2004
Annual Report: A Healthy Year in Chicago Theatre
A Year of Scattershot Splendor
Five Reasons to be Optimistic and a Couple, Three More Not to Be
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