Playwright: Team-written. At: Bare Boned Theatre at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark. Phone: 773-856-0470; $10. Runs through: open ( hiatus in July )
BY JONATHAN ABARBANEL
Season Three of The Ville is up and running at Mary's Attic and it's the same, only different. This soap opera of gays ( mostly ) , straights and various human oddities living in Andersonville is performed each Monday night, with a new episode on the first Monday of the month.
What's the same is that if offers a huge cast ( 17 ) playing an even wider assortment of characters ( 31 ) , although not all characters are seen in each episode. The characters are white, Black, Asian and Latino just like real folks who live in A'ville ( this writer among them ) . Also, as in previous seasons, this is not a high-tech production; you don't go for the sets and costumes. But you can eat and drink while you watch and you can join the pre-show karaoke warm-up. It's OK if you missed the first two seasons because you'll catch on to this year's—or this month's—essentials soon enough.
What's different, for the most part, is that the show now has a growing following. Denise, a first-timer sitting next to me, traveled from the far west burbs to see the show. Go early or you may not find a seat.
Previously, lezzie couple Liz and Lainey agreed to be surrogates for gay couple Terry and Greg, who inconveniently die. As season three begins, Liz and Lainey take the baby but have issues. There's not much more definitive action in this episode of The Ville because it's made up of a series of short scenes that don't add up to a conclusion. New characters are introduced, among them bike dyke Sandy; a couple of couples get it on ( perhaps laying groundwork for future episodes ) ; there's a women's softball game; and gay Bert Holiday III announces he'll run for 48th Ward alderman ( definitely a set-up for future chapters, as Bert otherwise is a minor part of this episode ) .
Is the acting good? No, not really. But it's not bad, either. It's entertaining, and director Rebekah Walendzak keeps things moving quickly. Also, in her capacity as head writer, Walendzak has overseen a script that has a fare share of smart lines and wisecracks. Kim tells Wendy, "I'm not that interested," to which Wendy replies, "Good, because I'm not that interesting." Still, despite the lively bits, it's too much and too long—nearly one and three-quarter hours—to be a tight soap-opera episode. Bare Boned Theatre would do well to trim the character roster and storylines so they could bring each episode in at about 75 or 80 minutes, tight as a drum and mostly funny with the odd touching moment thrown in. Oh, dear, theater criticism can be so serious. Take this for the fun it is.