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Evolution
By Jonathan Marc Sherman
Directed by Casey Van Wormer
Produced by MOB Productions
At Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theatre
2257 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 773-871-3000, tickets $16
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8:30
Sunday at 3:30 pm
Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission
Through September 12, 2007
Multimedia effects not enough to save muddled script
MOB Production’s over ambitious production of Jonathan Marc Sherman’s overwritten and confusing script proved to be a tedious affair. Filled with meaningless video clips from 6 TV monitors and one large screen, Sherman’s play tries to make a case for relationships between people and the pop culture as seen through the eyes of Henry (the bland Dan Carroll), a nerdy college student whose life changes when he meets his girlfriend Hope’s (Kyla Thomas) family.
Ernie (the much-too over the top Mark Matthews) is a meth head whose long diatribe on pop culture beats us over the head with his analogy between Darwin’s evolution theory and modern pop culture as presented by TV. Da! He gets Henry to smoke meth and pop pills as he rants on almost incoherently. A blond bimbo quizzes us on old pop film culture from the 40’s-50’s-60’s during scene changes. Khaill Boosherhri, as the Storyteller, tries to set the tone and explain the unexplainable plot to us. His narration just adds to the confusion as he tries to get us to buy into the evolution as seen through pop culture motif. It is all in vain as this tedious and muddle affair moves from unconnected scene to the next featuring the bland Henry—a character we never connect with nor care about. His adventures as a TV script writer with the eccentric doper Ernie are sophomoric adding little to the story.
The show has no cohesion, no through storyline and no dramatic tension. This confusing play begs the question: “What was it all that about?” Much editing and a tighter focus would help. The gimmicks such as the 6 TV monitors add little to the show. This weak script and disjointed staging produced little theatrical enjoyment. The attempts at humor necessities a keen knowledge of pop TV culture trivia. The folks who know such trite things seldom attend theatre. Theatre lovers will find little to enjoy here. Too bad since the players worked hard to land the inept script.
Not Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2007
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