Playwright: Todd Kreidler ( based on the screenplay by William Rose )
At: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Tickets: 773-753-4472 or CourtTheatre.org .; $38-$74. Runs through: April 15
Court Theatre's decision to mount Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a stage adaptation from Todd Kreidler, is an odd tightrope walk. This production isn't prepared to plunge into the murky unknown of choosing artistic or political stances for fear of alienating a very liberal, white audience, so it's a gentle night of theater with all the teeth of a set of plastic Dracula fangs.
In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, It's 1967 and Joanna Drayton ( Bryce Gangel ) and her fiance, a widower, doctor and contender for best human on Earth, Dr. John Prentice ( Michael Aaron Pogue ) have come to her parents luxurious manor to inform them/ get them on board. She's wealthy and white, he's the great success from a struggling Black family, it's the '60s and still interracial marriage is still illegal in many states, what could go wrong?
Unsurprisingly, it's a hard sell, not only among the Draytons ( Mary Beth Fisher & Tim Hopper ), but for John's parents ( Jacqueline Williams & Dexter Zollicoffer )all of whom have worked to protect their children from the danger and stigma they want to embrace. Tillie the housekeeper ( Sydney Charles ) is profoundly against it, as is Hilary the family's art gallery assistant ( Rachel Sledd ), but for latent racist reasons.The only one adding checkmarks in the "pro" column is the Monsignor ( Dan Waller ), and he's been into the bourbon. It's going to be a long night.
Director Marti Lyons and Associate Director Wardell Julius Clark have packed the stage with a bevy of local dynamos and their performances are this show's highlight. Mary Beth Fisher and Tim Hopper play Christina and Matt Drayton, and it's ridiculous fun to watch them squirm and quarrel among themselves. They are the focal point by design, and they are as formidable as their Tracy & Hepburn predecessors. Likewise, Michael Aaron Pogue's Dr. John Prentice is bound to crack under the pressure of required flawlessness, and it's mesmerizing to watch him as his problems compound. The real, undeniable stand out, however is Sydney Charles as Tillie. She is forever uncompromising, not amused, and judging you harshly. Deal with it.
At face value, there's nothing wrong with Court's choice of this production, and everything on their stage is visual perfection, right down to the bloom on the unnaturally white cacti. ( Scenic designer Scott Davis has rendered a stage you won't soon forget. ) But that is precisely the problem: This production is so safe and sterile, there's nothing to make Court Theatre's older, white audience members uncomfortable in their seats. There's something very self-congratulatory in choosing this production, which may feature the outstanding work of a collective of artists of color, but hesitates to keep them at the forefront.