Time After Time

The Pavilion – The Artistic Home

As the Narrator takes the audience on a cosmic journey through his poetic description of how the world was created, we’re struck by the simplicity and beauty of each carefully chosen word and phrase. It’s as if this play was forged from the best moments from Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” and the Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones musical, “The Fantasticks.” In addition to being a PBS kind of moderator for a documentary about the span of time, the role of the Narrator also offers a talented actor the opportunity to create an impressive dramatic achievement. 

Playing this part is a tour de force for gifted, charismatic actor, company member Todd Wojcik. Not only does he open the play in a commanding, all-knowing, Stage Manager/El Gallo-like performance, orchestrating the romantic tale that’s to come, but Mr. Wojcik seamlessly melds into every other supporting character in the play. As he shifts from a chatty townswoman, to the opinionated mayor of the town, to one of the leading lady’s girlfriends, to a stoned groupie of the leading man’s former band, and so many others, this actor captures the essence of Wright’s play and provides a myriad of comic moments. Wojcik’s superb performance may be the best reason for audiences to see this play.

But it’s certainly not the only reason. As the simple plot unfolds, the playwright shows us that as time moves relentlessly onward the landscape is constantly changing. We find that we’re at a high school reunion in a small Midwestern town. There, under the wooden dance pavilion by the lake, sadly slated for demolition at midnight, we meet our two lead characters. Kari, played with strength, sincerity and likability by Kristin Collins, is a pretty young woman married to a callous man obsessed with golf. She has become bitter at how her life has turned out. Peter, who was once Kari’s high school sweetheart, still carries a torch for the girl he loved and lost. He’s skillfully portrayed by John Mossman, a talented actor whose emotion plays out in his voice and on his honest, expressive face. The actor also displays a talent for music. Early in Act I, Peter is encouraged to sing his most recent song, “Down in the Ruined World,” which was actually composed by the playwright and Peter Lawton. The song is lovely, melancholy and describes Peter’s view of life. He spends the rest of the play trying to convince Kari to leave Hans, her insensitive husband, and run off with him toward happiness.   

To say that Craig Wright is a Renaissance Man, may be an understatement. He’s a talented and prolific writer of several different media. At age 57, he’s written for TV, programs like “Six Feet Under,” “Brothers and Sisters” and “Lost;” he created and was the head writer for “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Greenleaf.” Wright also wrote the screenplay for the film, “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” and has composed music for his alternative rock bands, The Tropicals and Kangaroo.

But Mr. Wright is best known as a playwright. Besides several of his scripts being presented Off-Broadway as well as all around the country, Craig Wright’s Pine City Plays were inspired by his time spent in Minnesota, where he earned a Masters of Divinity degree in the Twin Cities. In addition to “Molly’s Delicious,” set in Pine City, Minnesota, the series includes “Orange Flower Water,” “Melissa Arctic” and “The Pavilion.” Nominated for several prestigious awards, this play premiered Off-Broadway in 2005 to critical acclaim. Finally, Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated, elegiac and emotional comic-drama is enjoying a premiere in Wicker Park.

While there are three gifted actors who comprise the fine cast of this simple, romantic play, a third character emerges through Petter Wahlback’s impressive sound design. He brilliantly bathes this production in a deluge of delightful hits from the 80’s, while also providing the music of the waves lapping the shore and the  galactic sounds of the cosmos. Wahlback helps create a real feeling of time and space. And Lighting Designer Levi J. Wilkir has not only provided the illumination necessary for the audience to see the actors, but he’s added his own special poetry through the depiction of the moon and the starlight.

Skillfully directed with a light, but sensitive touch by Jeff Award-nominated Julian Hester, this is a beautiful, very special play. During a time when so many forces are darkening our world, including the resurgence of Covid and the horrifying violence that continually terrorizes our streets, Artistic Home is giving Chicago audiences a production that will move, inspire and offer an evening of laughter and reflection. The simplicity, allure and emotional impact of this play provides a soothing metaphysical meditation on life. Given the talent that has brought this play to life, it’s a production that really should not be missed. As Kari and Peter hold fast to each other, dancing to Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time,” a perfect musical metaphor for this play, we’re minded that all of this has happened before and it will certainly happen again.     

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented April 30-June 5 by The Artistic Home at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the Den Theatre, by calling 773-697-3830 or by going to www.thedentheatre.com.

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