Fabrizio O. Almeida

This week's big opening may have been Court Theatre and Museum of Contemporary Art's "Uncle Vanya" (see separate review), but Chekhovian fingerprints were everywhere to be found in playwright Aline Lathrop's hilarious and heartbreaking new work "Feast," directed by Kimberly Senior and having its world premiere at Chicago Dramatists. It's basically a well-constructed tragicomedy about a family having to cope with one another around the holidays, and follows the typical Chekhovian pattern of an outsider's arrival disrupting the status quo and triggering a series of confrontations and revelations. Verbal eruptions, uncomfortable silences and the careful revelation and accumulation of seemingly unimportant details also invite comparisons to Chekhov. But whereas the actors in "Cherry Orchard" or "Three Sisters" are called upon to switch emotional gears during long patches of narrative stasis, the strong ensemble of "Feast" are helped by an increasingly gripping storyline told in quick-changing cinematic scenes. Senior, however, knows when to take her time and as such, the most simple of moments have as much an impact as the big ones: a mother sitting at her dining-room table moving the salt and pepper shakers in nervous anticipation of a child's arrival; a husband trying to quietly slip into bed next to his sleeping wife so as to avoid confrontation. This attention to believable details, echoed by the ensemble in the acting department with deeply felt performances that play each of their characters' full range of contradictions--making them simultaneously selfish and sympathetic--makes "Feast" the complete emotional experience that it is. There are a myriad of plays about dysfunctional families, their wasted lives and unquenchable hopes. Rarely are they written, directed and performed as effectively as has been done here. (2007-01-23)

Also by Fabrizio O. Almeida

Tip of the Week
It comes as no surprise that Actors Revolution Theatre's revival of "Blue/Orange," playwright Joe Penhall's provocative, psychologically taut and verbose three-hander, has been given an engrossing and superbly acted production within the tiny confines of the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theatre
(2007-01-02)

Tip of the Week
With "Quita Mitos" ("Myth Remover"), Chicago-Chicana playwright Tanya Saracho proves why she deservedly won the Goodman Theatre's prestigious Ofner writing fellowship in 2004
(2006-11-20)

Tip of the Week
"Vigils" is noteworthy for Noah Haidle's highly theatrical and whimsical playwriting voice, an irreverence for traditional structure and fearlessness with form
(2006-11-07)

Tip of the Week
Eugene O' Neill had a point: mourning indeed becomes Electra. And in the demanding title role of Sophocles' "Electra," with a performance that does justice to its larger-than-life suffering, Elizabeth Christine Tanner proves it
(2006-04-18)

Tip of the Week
(2006-04-11)

Single Sensations
(2006-03-07)

Tip of the Week
(2006-01-24)

Tip of the Week
(2006-01-03)

Tip of the Week
(2005-11-15)

Tip of the Week
(2005-09-27)

Tip of the Week
(2005-09-20)

Tip of the Week
(2005-09-13)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment