Mourning Becomes Electra
Playwright: Eugene O'Neill (adapted by Gordon Edelstein). At: Remy Bumppo Theatre Company at Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln. Phone: 773-404-7336; $40-$55. Runs through: Oct. 30
The Amish Project
Playwright: Jessica Dickey. At: American Theater Company, 1909 W. Byron. Phone: 773-409-4125; $35-$40. Runs through: Oct. 23
Revenge luridly rips the New England Mannon family apart in Eugene O'Neill's Civil War-era updating of Aeschylus' classic Greek Orestia trilogy called Mourning Becomes Electra, now being presented by Remy Bumppo Theatre Company via Gordon Edelstein's condensed adaptation.
On the emotional flipside is a speedy rush by an Amish religious community to offer forgiveness to a murderer and his widow following the real-life 2006 school hostage/shootings that left five girls dead in Nickel Mines, Pa. (Jessica Dickey's largely fictionalized one-woman drama The Amish Project based on the incident is now locally premiering at American Theater Company).
Remy Bumppo's new artistic director Timothy Douglas shows his ambition for the company by mounting the monumental Mourning as his first production. O'Neill's drama is filled with operatically-sized emotion, which could feel oversized in a 130-seat Greenhouse Theater Center space.
Luckily, Douglas largely finds the right balance for this great American drama with strong cast members who intelligently invest themselves in their roles. (There are only a few groans when all the incestuous Electra and Oedipal complexes briefly turn physical.)
I would have liked Kelsey Brennan's Lavinia to be more tightly wound and spiteful, perhaps showing more of an off-kilter obsession so her later Act III "normality" could stand out more than just a color palate shift in Samantha C. Jones' lush period costumes. Otherwise, Brennan's Lavinia proves to be a very capable sparring partner to Annabel Armour as the passionate and murderous Mannon mother Christine.
With such hatred among the Mannon women, the men in the production don't get to shine as much. Yet there are still solid performances from the likes of Nick Sandys, Scott Stangland and David Darlow.
Mourning's three-hour running time may scare off some audiences, but the end result more than lives up to the drama's passionate promise.
The Amish Project is just little over an hour by contrast, but it proves to be a massive acting and emotional workout for Sadieh Rifai, who portrays characters ranging from non-Amish residents to the shooter himself.
Director P.J. Paparelli masterfully directs Mines throughout the glossy bare field-inspired set designed by William Boles. Though some might find all the character shifts to be initially confusing, each one soon becomes distinctly developed through Rifai's dramatic delineations (lighting designer Jesse Klug also greatly helps).
The one major pitfall with The Amish Project is Dickey's decision to offer her imagined dialogue in place of conversations from real people. Those expecting researched docudramas in the vein of The Laramie Project or works by Anna Deavere Smith might feel cheated by Dickey's mixture of so much fiction with real-life tragic facts. However, the message of forgiveness still wields its contemplative power to an overall good effect.
