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Tweaked
By Paul Shoulberg
Directed by Ross Matsuda
Produced by Big Brother Productions
At the Viaduct Theater
3111 N. Western Ave.
Chicago, IL
Call 312-590-8483, tickets $20
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 90 minutes without intermission
Through June 1, 2008
Gruesome look into the world of crystal meth addicts a real downer
Playwright Paul Shoulberg’s new play, Tweaked, is a glimpse into the world of meth addicts. While Tweaked is a gruesome depiction of the lives of addicts, as a theatre piece, Tweaked, suffers from lack of resolution. It plays out as a character sketch of the hold that meth can have on its victims. Billed as a dark comedy, I found nothing funny in this bleak depiction.
Maddy (Stephanie Sullivan) and Charlotte (Rachel A. Crouch) are crystal meth addicts struggling to keep their sanity as they live only for their next hit from their meth pipe. Their live-in junkie friend, Grogan (Ray Ready in the best performance of the show) aptly depicts the huge, all-consuming hold that crystal meth can have on a person. He also lives only for his next hit. Maddy and Charlotte try to shake their addiction but the pressure of daily life and the pain of coming down overwhelm their weak personalities. Maddy is desperate to reunite with her child now living with her estranged husband, Kyle (Derek Dion). Kyle is a born again Christian who has found Jesus and stopped drinking. Maddy has several tense meeting with Kyle with one ending up with his temper causing him to once again beat her. Add Trey (Kevin D’Ambrosio), the crystal meth supplier who loves Maddy and this group of folks burst with dysfunctional actions. Charlotte is a poet and a self-hating woman who lusts for sex despite her loathing of it. She meets the nerdy Lance (Darrin Luginski) and the two codependents struggle for physical connections.
Filled with scenes depicting both the smoking of crystal meth and the effects of withdrawal, Tweaked is an unfulfilling story that simply plays as a slice of life of addicts. We never grow to empathize nor car about this group of lost souls. No one has a sincere motivation to quit their addiction so why should we be concern what happens to them? The story shows us their awful life and their feeble attempts to quit their addiction. The show plugs along slowly with too many blackouts. The acting is stilted and underplayed.
Each character succumbs to their addiction when placed under stress. We say “who cares” since none of characters emotes empathy. The only point stressed in this unsatisfying play is that addiction destroys. We know that already. This play lacks a tragic element because we never relate to any of these folks. We believe that since they don’t want to help themselves, why should we care about them? There needs to be more at stake here. When the play abruptly ends, we say: “Is that all there is?”
Not Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: May 1, 2008
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