12-5-08
Refreshing Short Chekhov at Greasy Joan
It seems that I have seen more productions/adaptations of Chekhov’s short works than I have his better known full-length plays. Perhaps I’ve just missed those productions, but there seems to be something in these odd little comedies that draws young companies.
Greasy Joan & Co. isn’t exactly a young company, but they’ve been through many iterations, each one bringing its own aesthetic choices and, in some ways, beginning the company over again. With Julieanne Ehre moving on to other pursuits and Libby Ford stepping in as interim artistic director, another shift seems pending.
However, in many ways, Chekhov’s Life in the Country falls right into Greasy Joan’s mission to produce innovative productions of classic plays. Three Chekhov shorts, The Proposal, The Reluctant Tragic Hero and Dangers of Tobacco are woven around an adaptation of his short story Lady with a Lapdog. Many of the most regularly produced Chekhov one-acts are missing, including The Bear and The Sneeze. That’s all to the good, really. The only one of these offerings I’d seen staged previously was The Proposal.
Our throughline for the evening is the short story Lady with a Lapdog, which appears to be spoken verbatim by its two principal actors, Ilana Faust and Jason Huysman. In some ways this slight romance works very well. Faust and Huysman have a nice chemistry and give their relationship a lovely arc. The story’s dramatic impact is muted somewhat, as much of their interaction consists of reading the story’s prose rather than translating it into actual scene work. Still, the charming story, and Faust and Huysman’s performances elevate the material.
The other three pieces range in quality. Like a college production, there’s some miscasting—particularly Matthew Sherbach who plays every character age 50 or over, despite being at least 25 years too young. Ironically, he gives the best performance in the evening in the one-man piece, Dangers of Tobacco, in which a hen-pecked husband of the principal of a school takes advantage of a public speaking opportunity to discuss his marriage and his life with the audience. It’s easily the funniest piece of the night.
The other two shorts vary in quality. And Ford’s framing device, which consists of a sort of spoken word experiment with some of Chekhov’s key phrases, doesn’t really contribute anything to the experience. This performance will appeal most to those who are fans of Chekhov and are interested in seeing some of his lesser known work. For others, this will be an uneven collection of pieces that, despite some nice performances, doesn’t quite hang together and over-relies on youthful enthusiasm.
Chekhov’s Life in the Country, Greasy Joan & Company
Nina Metz, Tribune—“So often with productions of Chekhov, the humor is suffocated by so much Russian malaise. That’s not the problem in Greasy Joan & Co.’s collection of one-acts called ‘Chekhov’s Life in the Country.’ But an awareness of comedy and actually being funny are two different things. Man, they push hard in this show.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“In the zesty and at times rueful Greasy Joan and Co. production of Chekhov’s Life in the Country, directed by Libby Ford, stage adaptations of four of Chekhov’s best-known stories have been laced together to prove this point… It is the moody, slowly unfolding, beautifully observed ‘Lady With a Lapdog’ that serves as the soulful connective tissue of the show.”
Kerry Reid, Reader—“Three farces and a romance co-exist uneasily in this compendium of short Chekhov pieces staged by Libby Ford for Greasy Joan and Company…In between, the actors serve as a chorus, delivering tired aphorisms along the lines of ‘life is beautiful’ (though, of course, also wretched). The problem is that the lassitude of the romance doesn’t mesh well with the broad histrionics of the farces. There are some finely honed comic bits here and there, but the overall impact is blunted by repetition and uncertain performances.”
Brian Nemtusak, Time Out—“This tidy collection of three comic vignettes, interwoven with an adaptation of the famous short story ‘Lady with a Lapdog,’ isn’t without its limitations. It’s got one of those insufferable performance-studies framing devices that has the self-consciously ‘ensemble’ ensemble batting around Chekhovian taglines to warm up the audience. And the sketches that make up the meat of the show suffer from overwriting (though that’s part of the joke) and a narrow focus (all lament the plight of the henpecked husband). But director Ford and a deeply skilled cast hopscotch right around these difficulties, jumping into the rich veins of humor and wisdom at the heart of this proto-absurdist suite.”
Lawrence Bommer, Free Press—“The title is misleading (only one play deals with the rural life). In face, more than anything these short stories depict the perils of passion, reveling in Chekhov’s trenchant grasp of how everything that makes us human makes us pay, often dearly. Libby Ford’s cast, who act as multiple narrators in this story-theater adaptation, are too young for most roles but, no question, they deliver energy enough to make these unsubtle stories soar.”
The Dreams in the Witch House, WildClaw Theatre
Tony Adler, Reader—“I’m sure the cognoscenti will have no trouble parsing this adaptation of a 1932 H.P. Lovecraft story. But to uninitiated me it was 150 minutes of gobbledygook involving witchcraft, vampirism, possession, a gateway to another dimension, rats of all sizes, perversions of all kinds, a demonic book (kept, absurdly, at a public library), and loads of blood. Impenetrable as I found the story, however, I was also completely entertained. Staging his own script for WildClaw Theatre, Charley Sherman maintains a high level of craft and creepiness without losing his sense of humor. The laughs are both easy and queasy, and certain effects deserve the applause they get. If newly founded WildClaw can’t develop a cult following a la Annoyance Theatre, they just aren’t trying.”
Christopher Shea, Time Out—“Yet for all its bloody brilliance, Dreams suffers from a case of clunky artistry. Adapting Lovecraft’s loopy 1933 short story—a genius geometrist unearths the mathematical scribblings of a long-dead witch and literally follows her logic into the fourth dimension—could certainly prove a tricky task. But Sherman makes mistakes of the 30-blackouts-in-an-hour variety, turning out a product that looks more like a bulleted list of Lovecraft’s plot than an enlivening dramatization…Still, you can’t help admiring Dreams for what it does right…Aiming for a higher realm, Dreams only manages to grab its audience by the balls. But in a play that begins in small-town America and ends in a distant, witch-and-rat-infested galaxy, it’s no small feat to keep inducing squirms and squeals right until the gory end.”
The Autumn Garden, Eclipse Theatre Co.
Nina Metz, Tribune—“The thing about all that hate—particularly when a director is out to lunch—is that it infects the very people who’ve come to see the show. Jump that shark, and good luck winning your audience back. The current production from Eclipse Theatre offers the kind of flaccid displeasures often associated with amateur theater, a rare misstep for this company…But I can’t remember the last time I saw actors so unsure of themselves. The blame lies with (director Nathaniel) Swift’s directorial floundering. ‘Haven’t you lived in the South long enough to know that nothing is anyone’s fault?’ goes one of the play’s better lines. Don’t for a minute believe that it’s true.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The Autumn Garden might have a certain allure were it to be performed by a cast of starry mid-career actors. But while the Eclipse Theatre revival of the play—all three acts and three hours of it—is an ambitious undertaking, it too often begins to feel like ‘southern fried Chekhov.’ There are quite a few things to admire in this revival—the first of three productions of various works by Hellman to be staged by different companies in the coming months. But despite a game cast of 12 under the direction of Nathaniel Swift, the play’s considerable flaws remain difficult to camouflage.”
Justin Hayford, Reader—“Lillian Hellman’s 1951 play unfolds in the sitting room of a gulf coast mansion-turned-guest house, belonging to a family that’s seen better days. It should be an intimate place, full of history. But furniture is strewn awkwardly across Courtney O’Neill’s set as if to discourage human interaction—an unfortunately apt metaphor for this disjointed Eclipse Theatre Company production whose 12 actors spend the better part of three hours talking past one another…(W)ith disparate acting styles and a variety of geographically indeterminate accents, this bunch seem like relative strangers, and their stories never cohere.”
Christopher Shea, Time Out—“Swift subjects Hellman’s already slow-paced tale to a markedly motionless first act…Circumstances improve in a second-act about-face. Bounding past expository scene-setting, Hellman’s script delves deep into the knotty relationships of these sour Southerners. Eclipse’s cast responds with gusto, easing surprisingly well into full-bodied performances…Once Eclipse’s actors sink their teeth in, they never let go. But a second-act upswing doesn’t quite sustain itself through the third act’s close. Three hours into Hellman’s oppressive oeuvre, the theater exits start to look inviting.”
Venus Zarris, GayChicago—“Hellman’s delightful dialogue and poignant power plays are wonderfully realized in this outstanding offering. The remarkable design team creates one of the loveliest settings seen this year accented by Cecil Averett’s beguiling musical composition. You don’t have to plan a visit south of the Mason-Dixon Line to experience intriguing Southern discomfort and dysfunction. Simply head over to The Greenhouse Theater Center (formerly known as Victory Garden’s Greenhouse) and enjoy this lush and lovely Autumn Garden.”
Look Homeward Angel, The Artistic Home
Kerry Reid, Tribune—“ John Mossman’s tough yet sensitive staging of Ketti Frings’ Pulitzer Prize-winning 1957 adaptation for the Artistic Home builds on this company’s reputation for sprawling Americana… But the show finally belongs to (Jeremy) Glickstein’s magnificently affecting Ben, a man of fine instincts beaten down by coarse reality and his own inability to abandon his loved ones. ‘It’s like being caught in a photograph,’ he wanly observes of his stunted life. Artistic Home brings this snapshot of a bygone age to life with emotional verve and elan.”
Hedy Weiss, Sun-Times—“The Artistic Home theater company finally has a house worthy of its exuberant spirit. After years of producing fine work in a cramped storefront, it has taken up permanent residence in the larger but still-intimate confines of the former Live Bait Theater…Directed by John Mossman with a high exuberance that moves easily from the tragic to the comic, but occasionally a bit shrill, the play is framed as a memoir by Wolfe’s alter ego, Eugene Gant.”
Laura Molzahn, Reader—“(Adapter Ketti) Frings distills the book’s characters and action in deft strokes, creating people both unique and archetypal. In them you can see yourself, your family and community, your own troubled loved ones. The story centers on 17-year-old Eugene and his powerhouse mother, a monster of pragmatism, energy, and self-interest. But as played by Kathy Scambiatterra she’s sympathetic too, the product of marriage to an alcoholic. Nick Horst nails the naive boy, and Mossman’s adept handling of 16 other, finely etched characters ensures a brisk, clear, stirring story.”
Christopher Shea, Time Out—“Few could keep this meandering saga alive, but Mossman manages magnificently. He ushers Frings’s enormous ensemble of boarders and townsfolk through the Gants’ story with remarkable dexterity, coordinating among these extras a smorgasbord of relationships—from flirtatious to frosty—that add necessary farce to the mostly solemn action taking place center stage.”
Emily Lee, GayChicago—“Directed with richness by John Mossman, the production moves with a sumptuous pace reminiscent of its southern roots. Everything feels perfectly placed here, the casting, the satisfying sound design, the efficient, pretty set, lush costumes and poetic light design…Artistic Director Kathy Scambiaterra astounds, entering like a tornado and exiting like a hurricane. Perfectly juxtaposed to her Eliza is Frank Nall in the pivotal role of W.O., who turns in a stormy performance of his own, blustering with deep emotion and humor. It is his performance that will flutter beside you as you leave the theatre, bittersweet memories of your own life looming behind your eyes.”
Quote of the Fortnight:
“Look closely at any religion and it’ll seem ridiculous. The Bible is chockablock with the bizarre and unlikely. Most people are fine with it, I would argue, because these stories have become normalized. Get enough folks believing in something and suddenly it doesn’t seem insane.”—Nina Metz reviewing A Red Orchid’s production of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant in New City.