Playwright: David Rabe
At: Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Phone: ( 773 ) 283-7071; $20-$25
Runs through: Feb. 18
In the canon of Hollywood-is-full-of-greedheads plays—a genre born of playwrights appalled at their first glimpse of movie biz—only David Rabe's Hurlyburly seems to exert any sort of enduring attraction nearly a quarter-century after its premiere in 1983. To be sure, it's also a screwups-in-a-screwed-up-society play—since The Lower Depths, a genre likewise favored by young actors. But the most likely reason behind its frequent revivals are the opportunities for interpretation offered by its characters.
These consist chiefly of three thirtysomething men—all either divorced fathers or soon-to-be divorced fathers wallowing in misogynistic humiliation, their spleen exacerbated by seemingly endless supplies of intoxicants. ( The three women now figuring in their lives are, unsurprisingly, parenthetical to the male-bonding relationships. ) Amid a welter of inarticulate chat, riddled with elisions when searching for the right word is just too much work, small distinctions in personality emerge: Phil gets violent when uncomfortable, Mickey maintains a detached indifference, Eddie's pessimism is fueled by his TV habit. By contrast, experience has taught Arnie, their avuncular pal, the value of kindness, patience and tolerance—qualities enabling him to achieve a modicum of success and guaranteeing him the envy and revilement of his younger comrades.
But if the ambiance of this Gift Theatre production falls short of convincing us we are in tinseltown—being more suggestive of a fraternity house at a midwestern college—Michael Patrick Thornton's contemplative direction highlights the themes, rather than the decor, in Rabe's snapshot of American angst. And if his approach stretches the running time to just under three hours ( with two intermissions ) , it also allows these repellent characters a few rare moments of conscience, during which we sometimes find ourselves actually sympathizing with them.
Of course, we could as easily declare them to be reprehensible through and through. What's important is that the actors playing them delve the humanity beneath the bravado, continuing to do so while keeping the stage picture on their awkwardly large space always mobile and the plot always moving forward for a marathon race that would stagger most players of their age. Whatever we may think of our story's topic, there is no denying the care and industry invested in its presentation.