Lauren Wells, Sharyn Grose and TayLar in eta's Salt in a Wound.

Over the years, eta Creative Arts has established quite a niche for themselves bringing original stories of the African-American experience to the stage. Furthermore, they've established an endowment and acquired land to expand their facilities, while still going comparatively unnoticed by Chicago press focused on companies like Congo Square and, to a lesser extent, Black Ensemble Theatre. Still, what they've accomplished on the South Side deserves notice and admiration--building an audience for new plays that any theatre in town must envy.

Of course, the downside of producing new work is that one can't depend on genius every time out. If a company that produces established plays happens to choose a script that's flawed in some way...well, that's their fault. However, that's par for the course when programming new work.

Such is the case with eta's latest effort, Salt in a Wound, by Melissa Maxwell. Though the audience was quite forgiving the night I attended, Maxwell's script remains a couple of workshops short of being a compelling theatrical work. Director Ilesa Duncan and her youthful cast do what they can in this relatively straightforward production, but the script's predictability, overly episodic time frame and generally problematic structure overwhelm Duncan's efforts.

The story of an unfulfilled life, Salt in a Wound follows Julia (Makeba Pace) from her teen years through to, presumably, her 60s or so, as we see the mistakes she makes and the way her ultimate refusal to defy her mother (Sharyn Michele Grose) leads to her unhappy and lonely old age. The play fares best early as Julia flirts with, becomes pregnant by and then, through her mother's intervention, loses a young dancer, Jitter (a wonderfully sincere Terrance Watts). From there we see her first marriage, her second marriage and then we leap to her old age, living alone with her mother, alcoholic and emotionally abusive. Throughout, we occasionally see old Julia in her nursing home, with a staff who's unable to reach any family who'll return their calls--forecasting the sad end that's coming.

Pace fares best (actually the whole cast fares best) in the first act when she and everyone else play characters closest to their actual age. The entire second act features 20-year-olds playing 60-plus year-olds and the experience is too close to watching high school students play old folks to be comfortable. Furthermore, Maxwell leaps from big event to big event, leaving the actors to create an entire history in a series of short, episodic scenes. The audience spends so much time orienting themselves that much of the impact is lost. It's a pity the playwright didn't just make this into two (or three) plays to create an August Wilson-esque cycle. Instead she shortchanges the life she sets out to portray, as well as heaping an almost impossible task on her actors.

So this isn't eta's best work. But with better scripts, and perhaps by allowing more time for those scripts to develop, eta will doubtless offer better in the future.

 

Salt in a Wound--eta Creative Arts

Jenn Goddu, Reader--"In the program notes for this show, playwright Melissa Maxwell writes that she's paying tribute to a misunderstood aunt who had a great influence on her. But here the tale of Julia's joys and hardships is unsatisfying, too abrupt and episodic to make for good theater. As a stifled daughter and a stern mother, Makeba Pace and Sharyn Michele Grose sporadically earn our empathy. And Terrance Watts and Ethan Henry make an impression as Julia's suitors. But none of the characters' relationships are fleshed out. And though director Ilesa Duncan tries, she can't bring enough dramatic heft to what is essentially a string of major life events."

Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City--"Maxwell sacrifices none of the complexities in her exploration of Mother-Daughter conflicts. And under the likewise intelligent direction of Ilesa Duncan, a smart cast led by Makeba Pace as the embittered Julia and Sharyn Michele Grose as the steely Mrs. Williams invoke personalities of heartbreaking humanity, their poignancy compounded by the flashes of hope that cannot help but break through the despair."

 

after the quake--Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Michael Phillips, Tribune--"What's missing, I think, from after the quake is the tone of the original stories. The way I read them, anyway, Murakami's voices sound wry, hushed, subtly inflected. Opening weekend, Galati's ensemble laid everything out in typical overemphatic story-theater style... I left the show feeling hungry for a freer interpretation of the material. Galati brings great tact and intelligence to each project. But after the quake harkens, in some admirable ways and some frustrating ones, to Galati's best known literary adaptation, The Grapes of Wrath. There, as here, the text and the storytelling feel not just indebted to the source but constrained by it."

Kerry Reid, Reader--"Murakami's tales don't deal with epic calamities or their political implications; instead they focus on the quiet aches and nameless fears that put pressure on the tectonic plates of the heart. Galati offers an intelligent, respectful take on the source material; what's missing is a sense of urgency in the characters. When the characters' storytelling helps them gain insight into themselves, the play sings. But when their realizations are simply explained, a vaguely homiletic tone undermines the drama. Still, after the quake can be charming and affecting."

Nina Metz, New City--"But natural disaster, per se, isn't what really interests either Murakami or Galati; the focus is on the seismic shifts of one's own emotional landscape, which are often set in motion by external forces that can seem as random and incomprehensible as an earthquake--or a hurricane. The problem is, this kind of indirect metaphysical pondering often works better when you're reading, as opposed to watching. The production, however, is clean and exquisite looking; scenic designer James Schuette has created a playing area that is all right angles and black lacquer, encased in curving steel bands that suggest post-modern shoji screens."

Rick Reed, Windy City--"Frank Galati has adapted two of the short stories in Murakami's collection, after the quake, with care and a telling respect for the source material. It's not always an easy task to adapt work written for the page and make it play on the stage. They're separate mediums with different demands. The most outstanding achievement here is Galati's adaptation: his fluid intertwining of two short stories into a cohesive whole manages to retain Murakami's lyricism and empathetic characterization while bringing it to mesmerizing life for the stage."

 

Aren't We All--Remy Bumppo Theatre Co.

Chris Jones, Tribune--"It's all very juicy--although [playwright Frederick] Lonsdale stuffs these issues inside so many smoking jackets and long dresses, the juice dries fast. To enjoy this play, you have to prefer subtext to naked emotion, ambiguous suggestion to a paparazzi gotcha... Here, the troupe rolls out the perpetually pouting and thoroughly faux-British Shawn Douglass in a cricket sweater, and persuades Annabel Armour to play an arriviste housekeeper intent on snagging a rich widower. When you add an exotic Australian and the great British stereotype of the freeloading Reverend, you have an unsubtle but cheery little cocktail of type."

Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times--"It may very well be a whole lot trickier for contemporary American actors and directors to find the key to a British comedy of manners from the 1920s than it is for them to dive into Shakespeare. But it can be done--and done with impressive lightness, sparkle and ease. The latest proof is to be found in Remy Bumppo Theatre Company's wholly effervescent production of Aren't We All. Director Jessica Thebus and her cast of 12 appear to have channeled the discreet charm of London's West End theater during the era of self-engaged aristocrats, convention-flaunting flappers and grand tours."

Justin Hayford, Reader--"Lonsdale's writing is sophisticated, and director Jessica Thebus has assembled a talented cast for this Remy Bumppo Theatre Company revival. But the first act, comprised mostly of plot setup and character exposition, is so well behaved you'd think the actors were playing for their great-grandparents, and overly earnest American acting further weighs down dialogue that should be thrown away. The second act, however, is brisk, witty, and disarmingly moving, thanks in large part to Linda Gillum's sprightly, mercurial turn as Margot. With a finish so engaging, it's not difficult to forgive the extended false start."

Venus Zarris, Gay Chicago--"Director Jessica Thebus shines again as one of the most brilliant directors in Chicago. Her ability to squeeze every drop of talent from her cast and every drop of humor from a script is exhilarating. John Dalton's scenic design creates a wonderful setting. Janice Pytel's costume design is gorgeous and period perfect. And Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman's sound design is consistently flawless in execution and in creating an ideal atmosphere... This delightfully charming offering is sure to warm your heart in this cold and commercial season. Give yourself an extra treat this year and enjoy this beautifully wrapped prize."

Jonathan Abarbanel, Windy City--"It's what we call a style comedy today. The story and situation are familiar, so the elegant 1920s Upper Crust style becomes all-important. Fortunately, the Remy Bumppo team are strong stylists who carry off Aren't We All with panache to spare, especially as smoothly guided by director Jessica Thebus (who seems quite recovered from her missteps with another style show, Mornings At Seven, last summer). Coupled with the fine cast are truly gorgeous costumes by Janice Pytel. From a sporty day suit for Willocks (perfectly fitted to the svelte Nick Sandys) to 1920s beaded evening dresses for the women, these outfits drip with dash and swank."

500 Clown (Sings) Christmas Carol(s)--500 Clown

Chris Jones, Tribune--"That tragic little Christmas ditty is just one of numerous droll original songs in 500 Clown (sings) Christmas Carol(s), a bizarre and beguiling holiday cocktail of clowning, circus, improvisational theater, jazz-rock concert and political satire attracting packed houses to the Storefront Theater in Chicago's Loop. 500 Clown is a fresh-minded, three-person troupe that has risen fast to the top of the local theatrical pile. Their work is hard to describe (and actual details spoil the fun of a show that relies on surprise). But in this show, at least, the aesthetic lands somewhere between circus, London's Theatre de Complicite and a special holiday broadcast by Ira Glass."

Misha Davenport, Sun-Times--"The latest work of deconstructionist, improvised theater from 500 Clown is fearless, fresh and funny. This is a non-traditional holiday show that deserves to become the next big Chicago holiday tradition. Fa, la, la, indeed. Those looking for a faithful retelling of Dickens' tale would do best to look elsewhere, however. Ebenezer Scrooge's path to redemption is a well-worn and oft-told story that has found its way into just about every medium from the Muppets to Mr. Magoo. We only have to see the smallest of references here and we remarkably fill in the rest. The only way to breathe new life into the story is to strip it of all its trappings."

Tony Adler, Reader--"Actors Adrian Danzig, Molly Brennan, and Chad Southard present an evening of song and clowning inspired by Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The performers put risk first, and the audience often gets thrown into situations of, shall we say, physical uncertainty. They may climb on you, take your stuff, blind you with klieg lights, and swing planks over your head. They also sing great songs by John Fournier, evoking the rueful underside of Christmas or distilling its lessons down to crass but accurate axioms like 'Don't Be Such an Asshole.'"

John Beer, New City--"Unless your inner Scrooge is more highly developed than most, prepare to be thoroughly charmed and amused by 500 Clown's infectious and anarchic take on Christmas. What rough spots do inevitably arise in this heavily improvisational show are compensated for by the stunning musical work of John Fournier and his band. For an hour and change, 500 Clown offers a vision of the utopia that holidays almost never really live up to. My only real complaint was that it all ended a little too soon."

Mary Shen Barnidge, Windy City--"No, nobody gets kicked by a reindeer or crushed under a falling tree. Indeed, the 500 Clown ensemble's Christmas show is notably short on the slapstick violence that is their hallmark. The most conspicuous addition to the show is a four-piece band led by composer John Fournier, accompanying the Clowns as they warble songs recalling Maestro Subgum and the Whole back in the days when they rocked. These and the spectacles surrounding them are said to be inspired by Dickens' A Christmas Carol."

Quote of the Fortnight

 "Do we really need Bailiwick to inform us that straight people can't dance, have no fashion sense, drive only SUVs and are card-carrying, Republican-votin' members of the NRA? I think not--and if we must (and, apparently, we must), darlings, let's at least do it creatively."--Emily Lee reviewing Bailiwick Repertory's production of It's a Fabulous Life in Gay Chicago.