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The Glory of Living
By Rebecca Gilman
Directed by Carla Russell
At Profiles Theatre
4147 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL
Call 773-549-1815, tickets $18 - $22
Fridays & Saturdays at 8 PM
Sundays at 7 PM
No shows Dec 24, 25, 31 & Jan 1, 2006
Running time is 2 hours with intermission
Through February 18, 2006
A scary look at lost youth that is thought provoking
Profiles Theatre, always doing edgy works dealing with lost souls, continues that tradition with Chicago playwright Rebecca Gilman’s award winning The Glory of Living. First produced at Circle Theatre in 1996, this powerful work launched Gilman’s career. Profiles has mounted a scary and profound production that is a look into the effects of growing up virtually parentless. Gilman dramatizes how violence and sexual-psychological abuse can become so controlling to the youth who never learned the basics of becoming a person.
This riveting raw drama finds Lisa (in a splendid professional debut by Kelly O’Sullivan) who grew up with a drunken prostitute mother without any guidance leaving home with an ex-con sexual predator who marries her (at age 15). They wonder through the Deep South living in cheap motels. Lisa is totally subservient to Clint (Darrell W. Cox at his sexy and explosive best) as she unquestionably does Clint’s requests. When Clint orders her to find young girls to satisfy his sexual tastes, she does so willingly. She even kills the girls willingly when Clint orders it done.
What makes this play so compelling is Lisa’s character. O’Sullivan, looks like a teen as she emotes a simple, child-like innocence complete without any self-image at all. Lisa is a living non-person, a robot who lives as a slave to Clint. Devoid of emotion, she can easily kill. Lacking the most fundamental morality and life skills, Lisa is the ultimate sociopath. Kelly O’Sullivan plays Lisa as confused, immature sex slave without conscious. This is an intense character study of America’s underbelly.
Profiles Theatre’s production is full of honest performances that show that the Deep South is ripe with lost souls. Joe Jahraus, as Lisa’s lawyer, becomes the first caring (even loving) person in her life. Too little, too late. The Glory of Living is a marvelous character study that keeps you guessing and totally engaged.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show
This show eligible for a Non-Equity C.S.T. Theatre Award
October 15, 2005
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