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This Is How It Goes
Created By Neil LaBute
Produced by Profiles Theatre
4147 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL
Tickets: 773- 549-1815 or www.profilestheatre.org, $25-$30
Thur-Sat at 8:00 p.m., Sun at 7:00 p.m.
Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission
Through March 2nd
The Race Card is How it Goes
Profiles Theatre continues its season with the third in its series of plays by Neil LaBute. LaBute, who is widely known for his film scripts (In the Company of Men, Nurse Betty, The Wicker Man), is one of the contemporary theatre scene’s most prolific and most reliable playwrights. His work typically deals with the complexities of human relationships in today’s fast-paced world, so This is How it Goes is a bit of a departure from the norm as the principle point of the show is that race is always present, always just below the surface in American life.
The background for this not-exactly-a-revelation is the crumbling relationship of a small town interracial couple somewhere in the Midwest. In a twist from the usual, it is the black guy Cody (Sean Nix) who is from the family of wealth and prestige in the small town. He and his wife (Lindsay Schmidt) have the perfect home and family, but the foundations of their marriage are fatally flawed and the relationship has gone colder than Greenland before global warming. In walks an old high-school acquaintance (Eric Burgher) who is still hot for the wife and the plot unfolds. Sounds simple enough, but it isn’t. This is How it Goes moves through a series of quirky turns that are typical of LaBute’s work. The show is unusual and director Darrell W. Cox’s staging keeps it interesting, but the focus of the play is not character; it’s race. Race is the fourth character – the lead in This is How it Goes.
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LaBute’s frank dialogue is disquieting and uncomfortable even though it has purpose. Unfortunately, in the overshadowing of the human characters onstage that purpose is not entirely fulfilled. The point that race is always just below the surface in America would be more poignant if it bubbled over in characters we cared a bit more about. There is little chemistry between Nix and Schmidt. Even considering that they each admit that they began dating for the novelty and attention of their interracial experience, one would expect a bit more. The interaction between Schmidt and Burgher is marginally better, but doesn’t convince. The irony of their racial attitudes both overt and hidden comes from the fact that all are perceived to be upstanding, pleasant members of society. In the American debut of this version of LaBute’s 2005 script it is difficult to see how the neighbors could be so blind. Admittedly, the complete truth about Cody and “the woman” and “the man” (as the program refers to the others) must remain elusive because different perspectives of some of the events are presented through narration and repeated scenes, but there is no escaping that these are just not very nice people. Director Cox should have led his actors to a more multi-dimensional interpretation.
Anyone who has been to a Profiles Theatre show knows that they are a gem of a company and that there is a professionalism about productions there that is inviolate. In fairness, there are things to like about this show. The final scenes of This is How it Goes are well acted and powerful, with the best moment coming in a surprising scene between Nix and Burgher in which the audience discovers the scheming depths to which the two men can stoop. Overall, I heard pretty uniformly positive comments from other audience members as I exited the theatre. It was clear that most liked the show much more than I, so my complaints notwithstanding, This is How it Goes may be worth your while and your money. As an admirer of both Profiles and LaBute, I found the show disappointing.
SOMEWHAT RECOMMENDED
Randy Hardwick
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2008
This Is How It Goes
By Neil LaBute
Mini Review by Tom Williams
Profiles Theatre continues their year of Neil LeBute plays with a revised edition of This Is How It Goes. LeBute pulls no punches in this very funny yet disturbing work that deals with interracial attitudes as we see how the liberals are hypocritically as racist as many conservatives and how some African-Americans use race to get what they want. LeBute slowly crafts this work using “Man” (Eric Burgher) as the narrator who constantly changes or re-writes the story right before our eyes. He admits that “he might end up being an unreliable narrator.'' We witness how a story can change to suit the teller’s attitude or purpose begging the question what is ‘truth.’
This suspenseful story involves three high school friends who meet 12 years after graduation. Woman (Lindsay Schmidt), white, has married Cody (Sean Nix), an African-American track star and wealthy businessman. Cody is a hateful and abusive husband. Woman lives in terror of him as he both physically and mentally abuses her. Le Bute weaves racial attitudes and interracial dynamics into a funny yet shocking drama that skillfully points out the underlying bigotry of many white Americans. LeBute takes no prisoners here. Eric Burgher is terrific as Man, the sophisticated liberal whose racial attitudes explode from his mouth. This could be Neil LeBute’s finest play to date.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Talk Theatre in Chocago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 17, 2008
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