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Lady
By Craig Wright
Directed by BJ Jones
At Northlight Theatre
9501 N. Skokie Blvd
Skokie, IL
Call 847-673-6300, tickets $34 - $56
Tuesdays at 7:30 pm
Wednesdays at 1& 7:30 pm
Thursdays at 7:30 pm
Fridays at 8 pm
Saturdays at 3 & 8 pm
Sundays at 2:30 & 7 pm
Running time is 80 minutes with no intermission
Through February 25, 2007
Lady is a an incomplete work in progress
Sometime getting a commission from a theatre company after the actors plead with you to write a play for them can either be inspirational or daunting. That’s what happened to prolific playwright Craig Wright (Grace, Brothers & Sisters, Lost and Six Feet Under) with mixed results. Lady, in a World Premiere at Northlight Theatre, is an undeveloped piece whose story left me wanting more. With potentially interesting characters, Lady lacks an emotional center and a valid conclusion. The play has excellent potential but needs further development. As it stands now, Lady left me scratching my head asking: what was the point?
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Terrific work from the three players: Michael Shannon as Kenny, the pot smoking, do nothing local pal to Paul Sparks’ bearded teacher and campaign manager, Dyson to Lance Baker’s Graham, the first Democrat elected to Congress in southern Illinois in ages. The three are on a hunting trip in the grasslands of Illinois (terrific realistic set by Jack Magaw). Kenny and Dyson have a long two-sided conversation at the play’s start that seemed so much small talk. When the congressman arrives amid gun shots, the fun begins as Dyson is mad at Graham because he has gone right-wing backing Bush and the Iraq war. Dyson feels that Graham has sold out and now hates him. He has asked Graham to speak to his 18 year old son to persuade him not to join the Marines to fight in Iraq. Graham will not do that, the tension gets nasty.
The play slowly and incompletely outlines both the teacher’s opposition to the Iraq war, Kenny’s working class discontent with the war and Graham’s backing of the conflict. The political discussions are vague and underdeveloped. I thought the point of the story was how polarizing disagreements can shatter life-long friendships. In this briskly pace, well acted play, Wright never gets deep enough to make the stakes high enough for a compelling drama. We don’t know enough about Dyson and Kenny to care and Graham seems like a cardboard congressman. With more depth, Lady could work.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: February 1, 2007
Jeff Recommended
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