The Drunken City

By Adam Bock

Directed by Johnny Michael DiResta

At Steppenwolf Theatre Next Up Series

A 20-30something date night show is a  funny and loud affair

I must confess that as a 60something old guy, I find a group of loud drunken gals out on a ‘girl’s night out’ to celebrate one of the girls engagement not to be very interesting.  I also hate drunks and loud obnoxious folks–so I’ll turn ‘reporter’ since The Drunken City is a funny yet poignant one act about how we love and what it is to be able to love. Is love an acquired social skill?  And can we love someone but not be in love with that person. Last, can we change our mind about getting married despite all social pressure around the ceremony?

We meet the three gals – Melissa (Audrey Francis), Linda (Emjoy Gavino), and Marine (Darci Nalepa) as they first introduce themselves to us, then they take us back to the night at the bars when Marine meet a tall man – Frank (Brian King) on the rebound from a jilted love affair. His wing man, Eddie (Andrew Goetten) prods him to go after Marnie despite Melissa and Linda pretests that Marnie is engaged. The antics of all these drunks  fuels much of the comedy. There is a secondary story involving the closeted Eddie and Bob (Sean Parris), the gals employer and friend. These two believe they don’t both understand and know how to love.

Add a song by Emjoy Gavino that only seems to exist so the cast can change clothing and The Drunken City moves from a noisy drunken show to a serious relationship drama. The cast each had their moments and the staging was manic and funny. Emjoy Gavino and Brian King were particularly effective. So us old-timers may not enjoy this comedy but it sure works for the 20/30something target audience.

Somewhat Recommended

Tom Williams

As part of the Next Up Series at Steppenwolf Theatre