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THEATER REVIEW A Guide for the Perplexed
by Mary Shen Barnidge
2010-07-28

This article shared 2213 times since Wed Jul 28, 2010
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Playwright: Joel Drake Johnson At: Victory Gardens Theatre at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln. Phone: 773-871-3000; $20-$50. Runs through: Aug. 15

Have you heard the one about the ex-con trying to re-integrate with life "on the outside?" Sure you have—the Prodigal's Return comprises one of the most popular plot premises in western literature, its fallen hero's progress typically spooling into: 1 ) quasi-Christian parables of redemption and forgiveness, with long-buried family issues coming to light, or 2 ) sociological case studies on the effects of upbringing in determining individual destiny, as the events leading to destructive behavior repeat themselves.

Joel Drake Johnson's latest play encompasses elements of both scenarios, albeit with thematic variations, the first of which is the choice of upper-crust suburban Glencoe as the environment leading to our pilgrim's long-ago fall from grace. After serving a prison sentence for aggravated battery, Doug now seeks sanctuary on the wooded estate of his sister and brother-in-law, only to find himself immersed in a dynamic disconcertingly like that of his recent incarceration, chaos simmering beneath a veneer of orderliness. Householder Philip is now housekeeper, having lost his job under questionable circumstances. Matriarch Sheila is now the traveling breadwinner, communicating with her kin by telephone from remote white-collar locations, while their disgruntled teenage son, a victim of school bullying, schemes to wreak vengeance on his tormentors—or anybody.

When the whole world's going to pieces, one way to keep from disintegrating along with it is to focus very intently on isolated tasks. Whether the meltdown is your own or someone else's, this small measure of control over the universe offers escape from nihilistic despair. Our unhappy clan's most noticeable characteristic is their protracted reliance on these distractions: tending the tropical fish, shopping for groceries, experimenting with recipes. And if an idea terrifies you, expressing it in an arcane language reduces its power, if only temporarily.

Unfortunately, Johnson seems to have applied this technique to his playwrighting. However well-crafted each individual scene, details that are initially intriguing are left undeveloped to deteriorate into expository clutter obstructing any emergence of a coherent narrative. Playgoers can achieve an emotionally satisfying resolution by focusing very intently on isolated moments—Sandy Shinner's slyly subversive direction, the achingly sensitive performances, the near-obscene affluence reflected in Jeffrey Bauer's scenic design and the material gifts lavished upon Doug by a fairy godmother-ex-machina. But audiences stubbornly demanding intellectual fodder will be left with only the most abrupt of hackneyed denouements as their reward.


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