Playwright: Charles L. Mee. At: Chicago Fusion Theatre at Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee . Phone: 773-598-4549; $10-$20. Runs through: Sept. 28.
Rauschenberg, known as the father of the American pop-art movement, died this past May at the age of 82. He left behind multitudes of works known as 'combines' that blended painting, collage, found objects and taxidermy animals to reflect American life.
There's dramatic potential in Rauschenberg's life, particularly when he divorced his wife of two years and started pursuing men in the 1950s. But that gets only a passing glance in Charles Mee's 2001 play bobrauschenbergamerica, which is basically a random assemblage of text and ideas inspired by the iconic pop artist's work.
Mee's bobrauschenbergamerica serves as a template for any theater company, Chicago Fusion Theatre in this case, to dabble into doing performance art that can be both palpable and pretentious.
Since each theater company's cast and design team has to illuminate the play, you can't really fault Mee for his 'Aren't I clever?' textual posturing that easily become cloying. So it's important to keep audiences transfixed amid Mee's mix of banalities and deep insights that make you go 'Whoa!'
Chicago Fusion's Theatre's production, under Jack Tamburri's direction, does the best it can in the storefront Gorilla Tango Theatre space. If Chicago Fusion didn't have to share it with other theater companies, the installation art aspect of the show could have been even more complex and overwhelming.
As it is, the movable and slightly surreal set pieces of a tub, a window frame and a cardboard hobo shanty are just okay ( more projections and effects like the stars made from a flashlight and sieve would have been welcome ) .
The cast on the other hand, is more than eager to please and they frequently go all out for the script, be it stripping down to their skivvies or flailing about like a fish out of water.
Morgan Maher and Natalie DiCristofano make for an attractive couple as Phil the Trucker and Phil's Girl ( who readily enjoys applying the va-voom of a pinup girl ) . They also confidently inhabit their roles as playful American archetypes.
There's a nice tenderness in the occasional gay coupling of Pat King's Allen ( who looks like a grown-up Ralphie out of A Christmas Story ) and Carl, portrayed the elastic Paul Fagen.
I would have liked more punch to the sparring lovers of Wilson and Susan, portrayed capably by Michael Salinas and Nilsa Reyna, the way that Jakub Haczkiewicz's disturbing take on the murderous Pizza Guy unsettled everyone and spurred some extracurricular thinking.
Jason Huysman's hobo Becker, Lindsey Donley's childish Roller Girl and Laura Lodewyck as Bob's Mom round out the cast. They're all hard-working, but their overall efforts don't make bobrauschenbergamerica anything deeper than a weird detour into performance-art land.