Wage War or Give In

Wellesley Girl – Compass Theatre

Brendan Pelsue’s futuristic one-act, which premiered at the 2016 Humana Festival, was originally scheduled for a Chicago production two years ago. Then along came Covid-19, which shut down everything in its wake. With the pandemic seemingly under some sort of control, the play was then scheduled to begin earlier this month, but, once again, the virus prevented that from happening. Now that Mr. Pelsue’s drama has finally opened, masked and vaccinated audiences can finally attend Compass Theatre’s first production of the new year. The rewards of this uneven production may be difficult to fully recommend.

This heavy-handed drama seems to have been inspired by the news stories from six or seven years ago, although many of the ideas are still present today. Set in what was once the United States in the year 2465, the country is again embroiled in another Civil War. Three or four Boston suburbs are all that remains of the America we once knew. They have formed a walled-in city state that’s under attack. This unseen army from Texas which, with its narrow-minded alternative Republican Party politics, is apparently in the process of taking over the entire country.

Garth (played with composure and strength by Denise Hoeflich) is the stressed-out elected female Chief Executive of what’s left of the USA. She’s trying to keep her people together while rallying her citizens, all of whom are now considered members of Congress, to vote for sending an emissary to meet with the enemy. Her hope is to negotiate peace. The outspoken Scott (portrayed with pluck and passion by Todd Wojcik) tries to downplay this idea and promote an all-out attack on the troupes who are camping just outside the city walls. Ultimately the town must vote on whether to wage war against the enemy or simply give in and either face death or become a slave labor force for the New Majority.

Marie (another powerful performance by Allyce Torres), the titular Wellesley Girl, had witnessed firsthand as a child what happened when that small town broke away and tried to survive on its own. However, they found that their water supply was toxic and eventually the entire community died. She tries to persuade the Congress, and eventually the single member of the Supreme Court (Deanna Reed-Foster in the best performance of the night) of what the country should do. 

One of the problems in James Fleming’s production is that there’s so much political rhetoric and loud, overlapping arguments that it’s difficult to understand and focus on the actual ideas. Eventually the audience starts to simply tune out. The other problem is with the script. Pelsue’s characters don’t come across as three-dimensional. They aren’t fully fleshed out making it difficult for the audience to empathize with any of them. They just seem like stereotypes of our political world. There’s the bellowing activist, the peaceful pacifist, the stolid, disconnected Court Justice, the confused citizen who doesn’t know where to throw his allegiance, and the leader who is at her wits end trying to unite her people and solve the country’s problems. Ironically, only Hank, Garth’s wise robot husband-like companion, is the only insightful character in this play. Avoiding cliches and nicely playing the sensitivity and thoughtfulness that’s lacking in the human characters, he’s beautifully portrayed here by Ted James.

James Fleming tries to make this play comprehensible but more often than not it simply turns into a shouting match. Only Ms Reed-Foster’s nicely nuanced portrayal of Donna, the singular Supreme Court Justice, and Ted James’ expert portrayal of Hank, stand out as characters about whom we truly care. In addition, the play didn’t really need the final scene that supposedly takes place a few years in the future. In it we finally meet Marie and Max’s two boys, now parentless teenagers, trying to survive in the wilderness. The audience would’ve been content ending the play with Donna’s exquisite farewell speech, and would’ve understood from that the dismal fate of our world.

From a technical aspect, Sotirios Livaditis’ New England-inspired walls, which appear to be overtaken with creeping vines, impressively transform into a bed and a drawbridge to outside world. Cat Davis’ lighting and Stefanie M. Senior’s sound design add much to the presentation, as well.

Most of the problem with this play stems from the script itself. It feels sketchy and unfinished. Characters aren’t fully written, relationships aren’t sufficiently explored and many of the situations are never resolved. The one thing we can take from this play is how unease and concern are still a part of our world today. It’s certainly a piece that will inspire conversation and a contemplation of our own future, but never feels finished.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented January 7-February 5 by Compass Theatre at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the box office or go to www.CompassTheatre.org.

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