Playwright: James Phillips. At: Coriolis Theater Company, Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Tickets: 1-773-404-7336; www.greenhousetheater.tix.com; $20. Runs through: Sept. 29
The Coriolis Theater Company and its production of The Rubinstein Kiss are populated with recent theater graduates from Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern, UIC and several institutions beyond Chicago, most of whom are not yet in their late twenties.
Everyone onstage displays signs of talent and technique, and the company itself demonstrates seriousness of purpose and ambition in the selection of The Rubinstein Kiss, but even so the reach of this youthful troupe exceeds its grasp.
This award-winning 2005 British play, in its regional premiere, is inspired by the infamous Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spy case. Convicted of passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union, the Rosenbergs were executed in 1953. Julius was, indeed, a Soviet spy but Ethel was not although she may have known something was going on. Either way, the two were railroaded into a death sentence at the height of the post-World War II Red Scare.
Phillips is less interested in the details of the case than in the political and personal passions of the individuals, which is one reason he's fictionalized the Rosenbergs as Jakob and Esther Rubinstein. At the heart of the work is the personal commitment they have to each other, and how that commitment and their early deaths (the Rosenbergs were under 35 when electrocuted) play forward in the lives of the next generation in the 1970s.
The heirs to infamy are represented by the Rubinsteins' son (the Rosenbergs had two young sons) and the daughter of Esther's brother, whose testimony condemns the couple (Ethel Rosenberg's brother testified against them).
Phillips' play is a complex mix of personal and political issues and director Julia Rohed and cast can't quite bring full value, or full life, to them. They grasp the ideas clearly enough, but don't fully invest in the passions of the characters. Playing in a small studio theater, it's as if they feel the need to pull their emotional punches and scale back the performances. The result at moments is bland. Also the actors are not old enoughdo not look old enoughto be playing several of the characters.
The play's multiple scenes also are a stumbling block. On a small platform stage, without any type of stage machinery, the actors themselves must execute the scene changes. There are at least a dozen of them and they take up to two minutes each, slowing the show and adding over 20 minutes to the running time which approached three hours at the performance I saw. Costumes and furnishings (minimal) otherwise had a proper period feel.
Coriolis may have bitten off more than it can chew, but an interesting attempt on an ambitious play always is preferable to easy success.