Blood, Body Parts and Buffoonery

Killing Game – A Red Orchid Theatre

Are you tired of realism in the theatre? Are you attracted to the unusual drama? Do you wanna see a really, really weird play? Well, then look no further than Red Orchid’s latest production. It’s an intimate, up-close-and-personal presentation of Eugene Ionesco’s lesser-known comic drama about a world in which a plague is decimating the population, minute by minute. As the mysterious, deadly disease continues to rage, infecting men and women, old and young, everyone is speculating about how the illness is spread and what they can do to prevent contagion. As the debate continues, with the argument getting louder and more manic, dialogue overlaps and turns into cacophony. Welcome to the World of the “Killing Game.”

Ionesco is one of the foremost figures of French Avant-garde theatre, as well as a pioneer of the Theatre of the Absurd movement. He’s remembered for such bizarre, comic classics as “The Bald Soprano,” “The Chairs” and “Rhinoceros.” In all of his works, the prolific playwright sought to capture the meaningless of existence. He once wrote that “Death is our main problem and all others are less important. It is the wall and the limit. It is the only inescapable alienation.” In this, one of Ionesco’s last plays, the playwright examines how a crisis can reduce people to a state of chaos, uncontrollable fear and the opportunity to profit by all the pandemonium.

Red Orchid company member Dado has skillfully orchestrated her talented, 13-member cast through this madhouse of mayhem. She’s filled every corner of the stage with her enthusiastic company, tapping into each actor’s unique and specific skills and talents, while filling every aisle and nook and cranny with drama. Dado is a great director. She’s an artist who knows how to create stunning stage pictures, because she understands that the visual component of any theatrical production is its most powerful. A theatergoer who attends this provocative production won’t be able to unsee the images that Dado has created.

Her cast is excellent, with each actor having his own moment or two in the spotlight. Handsome, mellifluous Lance Baker, who’s starred in some of Red Orchid’s finest productions, such as “Evening at the Talk House” and “The Mutilated,” is a strong presence, once again. In this production he gets to display all his colors, playing a variety of unusual characters. Together with the impressive Angela Alise (so powerful in Goodman Theatre’s “The Wolves”), Baker plays a very old woman, with Alise as her longtime male companion. The couple has decided to live forever, but are shocked when the inevitable takes place. It’s one of the most memorable scenes in this production. 

The lead in Porchlight Music Theatre’s “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” dashing Andres Enriquez has a field day portraying a number of crazy characters. Dado has tapped into this gifted actor’s musical expertise. She’s also cast a magnificent musical actress in Sarah Thompson Johansen to balance the score. These two actors seem to lead the ensemble, both singing and dancing with grace and skill, thanks to the musical direction by Elenna Sindler and movement choreographed by Laurie Roberts.

Maya Lou Hlava, remembered with fondness from A Red Orchid’s “The Nether,” stands out again, proving she’s an accomplished young actress, who also possesses a powerful set of pipes. Young fifth-grader, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, proves that she’s already a seasoned professional, playing strong characters of all ages and genders. Londen Shannon makes his bright Red Orchid debut in this production, playing all kinds of roles. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of young actor in the future. Roy Gonzalez is a solid, handsome addition to this cast, last seen here in “The Mutilated.” Also returning to this stage, versatile Ashely Neal, whose delightful talents were enjoyed in “The Nether” and “Red Handed Otter,” takes the stage again with true vigor.

Ionesco’s play certainly won’t be for everyone. It’s a shockingly strange theatrical experience that’s the stuff of nightmares. But then any Red Orchid fan already knows to expect the unexpected from this gifted theatre troupe. This is a company known for its daring and dynamic productions, and in this Dado doesn’t disappoint. Theatergoers fascinated by Absurdist theatre and who enjoy their dramas laced with gallows humor, will find a lot to like in this grotesque pageant of blood, body parts and buffoonery.

Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented May 2-June 23 by A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago.

Tickets are available by calling the box office at 312-943-8722 or by going to www.aredorchidtheatre.com.

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