Losing the Forest for the Trees

Bury Me – Dandelion Theatre

Bury Me, a new play by Brynne Frauenhoffer, premiers this week produced by Dandelion Theatre and performed at Rivendell Theatre in Edgewater. It focuses on the story of Josh and Michelle, a young couple living in Chicago who recently (and unexpectedly) found out Michelle was pregnant and are visiting the small town in Missouri where Josh grew up.

I’m going to discuss the plot in a little more detail than I normally do because I can’t think of a way to explain my response to the show without it. If you are a dedicated spoiler-phobe, jump now to my last paragraph, and you’ll get the gist of my review.

With that out of the way…At Josh’s family home are his overworked mother, working six days a week to hold her home together; his stepfather, suffering from cancer; and his teenage sibling Ru, an outspoken progressive in their conservative small town. When they aren’t at school handing out condoms, they’re fighting with their mother over their opposing views on abortion. Shortly after arriving, it is revealed that Michelle’s baby has died in utero, but she is still carrying it, leaving her and Josh in a horrific holding pattern for at least a couple of more days. On top of that, Josh runs into a high school friend he once carried a torch for, and discovers that due to a drunken night in high school, he may in fact be the father of her five-year-old daughter.

I think my primary problem with the show is that it’s too literal. The characters do not portray character traits, they simply talk about them. Josh’s overworked mother and stepfather stricken with cancer feel like standard issue for whenever a show is set in the Heartland. They become mere receptacles for their positions on the issues, and the conversations get reduced to cliche-flinging shouting matches. It’s too on-the-nose that Josh is processing the grief of losing the child with Michelle at the exact moment a ready made family is dangled in front of him.

The secondary problem is that Josh is not a sufficiently likable character for me to either attach to or be anything other than flabbergasted that Michelle still wants a relationship with him. I found myself not just disinterested, but actively annoyed when he was the focus of the story.

The core story of a woman working through the grief and self-doubt that accompany a miscarriage is a powerful one. Every decision is questioned in a search to explain what happened, because the truth – that it…just happens – might actually be worse than finding some way to blame yourself. The guilt would at least accompany a sense of order in the world. When the show focuses on those moments, it is at its most successful.

Ru’s story, a progressive non-binary person growing up in small-town America, also has potential, but their story is mostly shouting matches before a final, heartfelt resolution that is too forced to land with real impact.

The cast is clearly trying their best, but for all their effort, none of them ever really connect with each other. Their dialogue largely feels crafted from talking points on abortion or feminism or faith. None of the relationships feel real, so there are no stakes to where the story takes them. There are a few redeeming moments watching Michelle come to terms with what has happened and admit some difficult truths about her life, but in the balance, those moments get lost. If the show had let its discussion of controversial issues be subtext rather than its literal text, the characters would have had a better opportunity to shine through.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented July 6-28 by Dandelion Theatre at Rivendell Theatre at 5779 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at www.dandeliontheatre.com/bury-me.

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