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Red Light Winter
By Adam Rapp
Directed by Chris Arnold
Produced by Thunder & Lighting Ensemble
At Trap Door Theatre
1655 W. Cortland
Chicago, IL
Call 773-332-9939, tickets $15, Industry $10
Thursdays through Sundays at 7:30
Running time is 2 hours with intermission
Through September 9, 2007
Raw, erotic tale of sex, obsession and friendship gone wrong
Thunder & Lightning Ensemble has mounted an engaging production of Adam Rapp’s look at the dark side of friendship with Red Light Winter. Filled with flawed characters, Red Light Winter is almost intoxicating in tone and temper. We instantly dislike and quickly hate Davis (Andy Carl in a pulsating performance) while we like and empathize with the neurotic Matt (Andy Hager in an outstanding measured performance).
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The story takes Davis and Matt to Amsterdam for a throw-back trip reminding them of the days (twelve years ago) when they were college students at Brown University. The two revisit the dingy hotel from those poor days. Drugs and sex prevail in Amsterdam’s red light district. Davis bullies and torments Matt whose is insecure, neurotic and suicidal. Matt’s self-loathing comes from his ‘writer’s block’ and his lack of sexual companionship. Matt is a poor soul hopelessly seeking a truly romantic relationship while Davis is a hedonistic, selfish and insensitive brute. Yet Davis and Matt have a friendship from their college days that seems to endure. Davis brings a whore, Christina (Sadie Rogers) to help Matt overcome his shyness and sexual frustration.
Matt falls for the whore who turns out not to be French but American. Rapp’s smart and riveting dialogue and telling speeches fuel this haunting character sketch. We wonder what will happen to Matt and we wonder about the mysterious woman. We see that Davis is a nasty person who’ll use anyone without remorse to gain his pleasure.
A web of obsession and deceit festers a combination of fierce longing and submerged rage. Will Matt finally find a voice to complete his play and will he find his soul-mate? Rapp’s plot has some surprising twists that will test Davis and Matt’s dark and eroding friendship. I was fully invested in this nicely paced show that built the tension smoothly as the emotions exude from the characters. Andy Hager’s complete emersion as the troubled, nervous Matt made for a terrific performance. We empathize for Matt.
This is a little gem for only a $15 ticket.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: August 12, 2007
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