An American Nightmare

Russian Transport – Steppenwolf Theatre

No one strives harder to achieve the upward mobility, success and financial prosperity promised by the freedoms in our Declaration of Independence than the thousands of immigrants who arrive daily. Erika Sheffer’s drama, currently having its Chicago premiere, draws a little from her own experience. Like Sheffer’s family, it depicts a Jewish Russian-born family who’ve immigrated to the United States, settling in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn and working hard for their piece of the pie. Having grown up under the Soviet Union’s restrictions and deprivation, American freedom can be overwhelming for a people unaccustomed to it. Sheffer’s play examines the effects of what happens when one’s reach exceeds his grasp.

Waiting for The Big Kahuna

Hospitality Suite

Ah, the complicated world of big business. It revolves around so many significant events, but none is as important as the annual sales convention, usually held at major metropolitan hotels. Such is the setting for three men from a Chicago-based industrial lubrication company who have set up their convention’s party room in a modest Wichita Holiday Inn suite. The goal is to schmooze and make sales, plying important clients with enough booze and bullshit to convince them to buy their product. The evening that lies ahead is mostly successful, perhaps not for the characters but for the audience.

The Psychology of Murder

Crime & Punishment

Sometimes one slaves over plans for an event, rationalizes it to death and even envisions its aftermath. Such is this story of intellectual torment and ethical quandary haunting impoverished Russian student Rodion Raskolnikov as he plots to rob and kill a mercenary pawnbroker. Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus have nicely captured the main characters, basic plot and dark tone of Dostoyevsky’s lengthy, 1866 psychological masterpiece while successfully paring it down into a 90-minute theatrical event. Originally written and presented in 2003, the remount marks the 28th season opening of this Jeff Award-winning company.

Fast and Furious Storytelling

Sideshow Theatre Company presents The Golden Dragon

The Golden Dragon knocks you off your feet faster than an order of Thai food extra hot. The play takes a surreptitious route to getting to its dark message, but when the production is done, you are left speechless. The story takes place around a restaurant called The Golden Dragon that serves Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese food.  The four restaurant employees are dealing with a recently hired Chinese boy whose tooth needs to be pulled out.  But around this central plot, there are multiple other story lines going on. There is a young couple who is unexpectedly pregnant, a couple who are breaking up, a pair of stewardesses eating dinner in The Golden Dragon, plus a few more characters. The ensemble cast bounces around inside characters like pinballs.   The whole production is only a little over an hour and all of the story threads come together almost violently by the ending.

An Evening Alone with Your Thoughts

The Side Project Theatre Company presents Request Concert

At the Side Project Theatre in Roger’s Park is a show where the front of house staff starts off by telling you there will be no curtain call. The small black box theatre where you will see Request Concert efficiently uses all of the space it has, filling it with what looks like a studio apartment. The show begins without much warning as the audience lights dim and a woman enters the space. She feels very familiar, coming in from the cold Chicago winter and settling into her small home wearily after a long day. The entire play consists of this spinster, Ms. Rasch, going about her evening routine. The production is part of Side Project Theatre Company’s attempt to explore urban loneliness in conjunction with another play by the same writer entitled Through the Leaves. While at first watcingh a 40-something woman eat her dinner, wash dishes, and listen to the radio is a little difficult for a 21^st century fast-paced audience to adjust to, by the end you really fell like you know Ms. Rasch, perhaps better than she knows herself.

Admittedly, this show may not be for everyone. It is a very intimate venture into a very lonely and sad woman’s life. It is also a wordless play, so it sometimes takes a bit of concentration not to let your mind wander. However, even when it does, that only makes you reflect more on how small and far between the joys in Ms. Rasch’s life are. Suddenly the act of treating yourself to cookies after dinner becomes a very special ritual. Meg Elliott, who plays Ms. Rasch, looks perhaps a little young for the role, but is very subtle and skilled in her portrayal of the character. From smoking a cigarette to folding a napkin, Elliott puts great care and meaning into every little action on stage. It is easy to sympathize with her character.

All of the elements of this production are very subtle. In the background, I thought I could hear the sound of cars and traffic. If the theatre wasn’t in quiet Roger’s Park, I would have just assumed it was the sound of Chicago. That environmental design and the compilation of songs playing on the radio’s “Request Concert Hour” were designed by Stephen Gawrit. The very livable and tiny studio apartment set was designed by Carolyn Voss, who even added running water to the set design. It’s funny how the continual drip of a real faucet can add to the ambiance of the moment. The entire production, much like Ms. Rasch herself, come together to form a very neat and tidy package.

Request Concert is certainly not like every play you are going to see in Chicago. It definitely feels like the production of a storefront theatre company, but is surprising in the risks Side Project Theatre Company chooses to take. However, even though the style of the production is inventive, the ending feels a little predictable. Essentially the message becomes: people who live alone in cities are lonely. It would be interesting to see a counter to this production, where a single woman living alone finds ways to make her life meaningful. There is certainly a truth and sadness to Request Concert, but perhaps there could be a brighter side to the urban lifestyle.

Recommended

Reviewed by Clare Kosinski

Presented January 22-February 2 by The Side Project Theatre Company, 1439 West Jarvis Ave, Chicago.

Tickets are available by calling 773.340.0140 or by visiting their website www.thesideproject.net.

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

A Priceless, Peerless Production

Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money

Imagine someone giving you a piece of currency that bares the likeness of African-American R&B singer James Brown, the initials HWMISB and the denomination of 1 followed by fifteen zeros. Your reaction would be much the same as 10-year-old Steven’s in this jubilant musical for the entire family, based on Christopher Paul Curtis‘ award-winning children’s novel of the same name. Not knowing what to call Mr. Chickee’s strange bill or whether or not it’s even real, Steven, the president of the FFD (Flint Future Detectives), sets out to solve this case. With the assistance of co-detectives Richelle and Russell, Mr. Chickee’s giant rag mop dog Zoopy and a little help from his parents, Steven discovers what is really valuable in life. Whether outwitting evil National Treasury Agent Fondoo, learning about the Godfather of Soul or recognizing who’s “My Best Friend,” this terrifically entertaining 60-minute musical is a must-see.