by Anthony Ellison
GOD’S EAR: Viaduct Theater
Through 4/26: Thu-Sat 8 PM, Sun 5 PM,
773-296-6024 or 866-468-3401
Theater
& Performance
Like David
Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer-winning Rabbit Hole, Jenny Schwartz’s 2007
play demonstrates the obvious: most parents who lose a child feel horrible, act
strangely, but ultimately accept the loss. While Schwartz’s 90-minute piece is
about an hour shorter than Lindsay-Abaire’s, her repetitive, quasi-poetic,
stream-of-consciousness scenes and glut of inexplicable characters–a dumpy
tooth fairy, a G.I. Joe, a pistol-toting transvestite flight attendant, and a
nameless guy who sings a list of things eBay doesn’t sell–make it feel
interminable. Director Krissy Vanderwarker’s able cast make many of Schwartz’s
aimless asides compelling, and Abraham Levitan’s faux-naive songs add charm to
this Dog & Pony Theatre Company production. But all the indirection and
irony does little to illuminate recognizable human psychology or emotions.
–Justin Hayford $15-$20
In Justin Hayford’s
latest review, He really delves deep within the confines of a struggling Jenny
Schwartz’s faux-production. WHERE In Theater…does an over-weight tooth fairy belong? If we can’t have fit tooth fairies we can’t really see the truth about mourning the death of a child, now can we? The Viadauct really isn’t “that” kind of theater. Put away your G.I. Joe’s, and your transvestites, and your nameless singers and find out what death is “really” like for the survivors. Transvestites can’t even have kids! Or at least they shouldn’t. Am I right, Justin? Justin
knows. I guess the moral of the story for Jenny, is that if you want to write a “quasi-” poem or depict the faux-ness
of naivety, or float in a “stream-of-consciousness”, save it for a coffee shop and spare the Viaduct please? I would
assume Justin is sick of using hyphens. Am I right , Justin?