Out of the Fog

Pamplona – Goodman Theatre

 

Near the top of Jim McGrath’s biographic, one-man play about award-winning American author Ernest Hemingway, the writer calls down to the desk from his comfortable Pamplona, Spain hotel room. He instructs the desk clerk, with whom Hemingway became quite friendly over the years, to not, under any circumstances, send up any liquor. The author knows he’s addicted to alcohol and is trying to clean up his act. But the audience knows, by this one-sided phone conversation, that Hemingway won’t be able to stay on the wagon, and this will spell the beginning of the end for the talented writer.

Ernest Hemingway had a vast, varied and often turbulent career over his lifetime. Producing most of his works between the mid 1920’s and 1950’s, Hemingway was a journalist, a writer of short stories and a novelist. He penned seven novels, three of which were published posthumously, that included To Have and Have Not, For Whom the Bell Tolls, A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea. His novels, known for Hemingway’s spare, tight prose, are considered classics of American literature. He wrote about love, war, loss and being at one with the wilderness. His fiction is primarily male-dominated and filled with masculine pursuits. 

Hemingway was rewarded for his talent with both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes, honors he regarded both as a blessing and a curse. The author’s colorful life, which is encapsulated in this 90-minute one-act, influenced his writing and spans time spent in his birthplace, Oak Park, Illinois, then traveling to Paris, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Key West, Florida, Michigan and all over the American West. In a well-appointed Spanish hotel room in the late 1950’s, Hemingway tries to overcome his recurring writer’s block and work on an article about bullfighters for Life Magazine. In between spurts of inspiration, the author launches into a series of monologues about his life and loves.

Stacy Keach is the perfect actor to bring this play to life. Indeed, among his many, many stage, screen and TV credits, the talented actor earned a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Ernest Hemingway in the 1988 television series of the same name. Just last Spring, following 11 previews, Mr. Keach suffered a mild heart attack during the opening night performance. To his credit, and knowing that the show must go on, Keach persevered, performing to his best ability, despite being dazed and confused by what was happening to his body and mind. The performance was eventually halted and the valiant actor left the stage. After medical attention and months of recuperation, Stacy Keach has heroically come out of the fog and returned to the Goodman stage to finish the journey he began a year ago. The actor is much more vibrant and energetic today, and Chicago audiences are very fortunate to have another opportunity to enjoy his dynamic portrayal of a great writer.

Directed again by Robert Falls, Stacy Keach does Ernest Hemingway proud. As the writer, he shouts, rails and cajoles to himself, while drawing up the ghosts and memories from his past. Set within Kevin Depinet’s beautifully detailed period set, and accented by Adam Flemming’s projections of photographs from Hemingway’s earlier years, we learn about his relationships with the four women who would become his wives. We also discover secrets about literary friends Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and other greats. We hear about his adventures in Europe during the War years, about how he enjoyed running with the bulls in Pamplona and his great love of fishing, hunting and the great outdoors. 

This well-researched play, beautifully crafted by Jim McGrath, sensitively directed by Robert Falls and gloriously performed by Stacy Keach is a honorable retrospective of this beloved, much-respected American writer. It’s a highly acclaimed tour-de-force, not to be missed.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas    

             

Presented July 15-August 19 in the Owen Theatre venue by the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the Goodman box office, by calling 312-443-3800 or by going to www.GoodmanTheatre.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.