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Half of Plenty
By Lisa Dillman
Directed by William Payne
At American Theater Company (ATC)
1909 W. Byron
Chicago, IL
Call 773-929-1031, tickets $30 - $35
Thursdays & Fridays at 8 pm
Saturdays at 4 & 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 2 hours, 10 minutes with intermission
Through May 27, 2007
Smart up-to-the-minute satire delivers a warning
ATC specializes in Chicago style American stories and Chicagoan Lisa Dillman’s contemporary comedy, Half of Plenty, now in a world premiere, covers many of the paranoid tendencies in 21st Century American city life. From caring for an Alzheimer’s father to cost of living to job security to municipal crime to neighborhood influences to terrorism, Half of Plenty is a funny and satirical cautionary tale of modern middle class urban life. What makes this intelligent play work is Dillman’s apt portrayal of blue collar folks struggling to maintain equilibrium and normalcy as the pressures of daily life seems to overwhelm Holly (Cheryl Graeff) and Marty (Stef Tovar).
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These folks are average middle class Americans caught trying to cope with Mary’s father, Jack (John Mohrlein) who’s advanced Alzheimer’s demands full-time attention. Marty is a factory worker and recovering alcoholic who survives one day at a time. Holly is a stay-at-home wife who transcribes medical records for a living. We empathize with their daily struggles. The antics of Jack (in a marvelous and scary performance by John Mohrlein) are sadly hilarious. Holly alone can handle Jack.
The cautionary tale shows how a neighborhood organization of paranoid, control freaks, the APNEA, bent on “preserving” a wholesome way of life (the narrow conservative agenda) lead by Hector (Ron Butts) and Mitzi Zook (Lucinda Johnston) spies on each household in an attempt to indoctrinate everyone into a “Big Brother” style conformity in accordance with the Zook’s view of society. Marty gets caught up in the paranoia yet Holly resists.
Half of Plenty unfolds with clever plot twists utilizing humor and biting satire that gives us a glimpse of our contemporary world. Theatre needs to use drama, humor and satire to get us to re-think our present biases and concerns. Half of Plenty sure does that with nicely naturalistic characters whose pains are our pains. The production features a terrific living room set by Jack Magaw and under ATC founding member William Payne’s tight and honest direction it plays with strong performances from the talented Cheryl Graef with a heart wrenchingly funny performance from veteran John Mohrlein as the dementia suffering father. This worthy play delivers humor as well as a warning about spying and personal freedom versus the societal need for security. I like this play and so will you.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Topm99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: May 5, 2007
Jeff Recommended
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