Playwright: David Nathie Barnes. At: T.M.R Inc. at Theatre Building Chicago,
1225 W. Belmont. Phone: 773-327-5252; $25. Runs through: March 21
There's the legend, of course: "Make him an offer he can't refuse," "I coulda been a contender!" and "Stelllaaaaaa!" And there's the scandal: his obstructive behavior during filming, his wildly fluctuating weight, his rejection of an Oscar in protest of Hollywood bias against minorities ( in this case, Native Americans ) . And then there's the tragedy: his three marriages, the sensationalism surrounding the eldest two of his twelve ( recorded ) children, the homosexual "experiences" he finally acknowledged in a 1976 interview. If ever a public figure mandated a behind-the-music biopic, it was Marlon Brando.
David Nathie Barnes' docudrama may be viewed as a work-in-progress toward that goal. Since 2007, A Love Lost Life has evolved from a 45-minute three-character sketch into a 75-minute play, three actors now portraying its hero at different stages of his career, and the addition of a few Hollywood compatriots ( the latter likewise heir to idolatry and early death—even River Phoenix gets a belated shout-out—their untimely ends contrasting with Brando's long, if troubled, life ) . But the show now undergoing its first full run at the Theatre Building, where it clocks in at 90 minutes, is still in need of some reshaping before becoming what it aspires to be.
The chief problem is that its subject refused to engage in self-analysis, stubbornly/coyly maintaining the noble-savage pose that made his fortune. ( In one scene, an almost foot-kissing James Dean declares them both "a couple of farm boys making it big." ) This reduces the dramatic action to a series of speculative episodes—Brando seduces his future agent with his attitude, Brando flirts with a young Marilyn Monroe, Brando bullies his ex-wife, Brando speaks against U.S. imperialism, and so forth. We also get son Christian and daughter Cheyenne swapping such introspective banter as "People who live the Hollywood lifestyle grow up faster," but offering no new insight into their Papa Dearest's enigma.
Robert Ashkenas and author Barnes have been playing Brandos senior and junior from the play's inception, however, and so easily command our attention and sympathies, while local actors Michael Perez and Jamie Asch replicate the mannerisms that launched a thousand cults over six decades ( but watch for Beau Forbes' scene-stealing Dean ) . Love Lost Life needs only some fine-tuning of its narrative theme to lend its hagiography focus as a portrait of the artist who changed the face of the American movie hero to this day.
