Playwright: Jake Minton and Chris Mathews
At: House Theatre at The Viaduct
Phone: ( 773 ) 251-2195; $19
Runs through: July 9
With this production, the House Theatre and husky artistic director Nathan Allen definitively inherit the mantle of the original Organic Theater and its husky artistic director, Stuart Gordon. Redeeming themselves from the excesses of The Rocket Man earlier this season, House focuses on a strong story told imaginatively but simply. While never leaving comedy alone for long, authors Jake Minton and Chris Mathews introduce bittersweet resonance and emotional depth previously missing in House endeavors.
Dave DaVinci is the genius scientist who mastered cold fusion and now masters time travel. Since the suicide of his teenage daughter—a brilliantly precocious science fiction author of six hit novels—Dave has hovered between sanity and madness, pursuing his science while imaging that the characters created by his daughter are real. Unable to grieve, Dave leaves his wife, Nora, quite literally in a different place both emotionally and physically. Reconciling Dave and Nora is the play's business.
The authors borrow freely from Star Trek, Krapp's Last Tape, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Star Wars for narrative devices, stereotypes ( the android robot ) and jokes ( a huge laugh about the newest Star Wars ) . However, they place the familiar devices in the service of a larger tale; Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe is not about sci-fi and space schtick, which never is allowed to overwhelm the central focus ( a problem with The Rocket Man ) . Minton, Mathews and Allen have edited strictly, avoiding both sprawl and clutter.
To be sure, it's still a signature House production, with jacked-up original music not always appropriate to the mood, some fun costumes, some simple but engaging special effects and a few moments that captivate in their beauty and authority, as when the suicidal daughter symbolically unsold a typewriter ribbon ( remember typewriter ribbons? ) .
The House ensemble is most effective. The title role is split between two actors, since Dave must return from the future to confront himself. Stephen Taylor proves an exceptionally deft comedian as the slightly younger Dave, while Dennis Watkins gives Davie gravitas. Stacy Stoltz aches softly as Nora, while Paige Hoffman expands her small role as daughter Perdi DaVinci through subtext. The monochromatic, two-wall set with neo-classical hints ( designed by Collette Pollard ) is inspired simplicity.
Yes, it's all come together for the House. I'm disturbed, though, that Allen and his audience still treat the proceedings like a frat party—or perhaps only opening nights are that pumped up. It's quite wonderful that House attracts loyalists who can grow up and grow old with the troupe, but at some point the party environment will collide with a larger seriousness of purpose in theatrical art. You'll never be able to play tragedy if you always warm up the crowd for a sitcom.