Playwright: August Strindberg, translated by Edwin Björkman, adapted by Jaclyn Biskup
At: The Mill at the Chopin, 1543 W. Division
Phone: 312-388-7660; $15
Runs through: July 29
BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE
American audiences usually associate August Strindberg with the naturalistic sexual politics of Miss Julie, rather than with his later experiments in expressionism such as A Dream Play, written in 1901. As might be expected from its title, the story is constructed in a series of seemingly-incongruous episodes, each understood to be a stop along the earthly journey of a Hindu god-child on a reconnaissance mission. The motifs borrow from Lewis Carroll ( with satire targeted at the educational, rather than legal, systems ) , Hans Christian Andersen ( a faraway castle that expands as if by magic ) , E.T.A Hoffman and other pioneers in visionary literature. But since this is Strindberg, every experience encountered by the celestial visitor points to life being one huge, chaotic, disappointing hardship.
Its historical significance in the development of 20th-century European theatre aside, why anybody would want to stage this jeremiad is a mystery far greater than those posed in the play. But The Mill ( formerly known as Experimental Theatre Chicago ) has cultivated a reputation for putting its own unique stamp on challenging material, under the guidance of its artistic director, Jaclyn Biskup. Her adaptation of Edwin Björkman's 1912 translation softens the potentially stilted dialogue with a sprinkling of colloquialisms ( with our holy observer saying 'Bullshit!' at one point ) . And, assisted by scenic designer Heath Hays, an extravaganza of exotic locales—a stormy seashore, a fashionable resort, an overcrowded sanitarium, a squalid family apartment and a cluttered law office—is reduced to a single arrangement of Cornell-box furnishings.
But what keeps the hour-long production from drowning in its own preciosity are the characterizations invoked by the 11-member ensemble. However nebulous their route through Strindberg's pessimistic meditations, all personalities are rendered distinct, even when Kevin Cox plays two roles simultaneously or Julie Cowden voices four chatty puppets in addition her own persona. Also helping focus our attention amid the otherworldly ambience is Stephanie Sherline's fanciful music: imagine a seashell containing an angel choir, caroling the Music of the Spheres.
That all the creative talent reflected herein cannot elevate A Dream Play above the rank of an interpretive exercise, of more value to its participants than its audience, should not deter playgoers—particularly those recalling the humble roots of such now-acclaimed companies as Lookingglass and the House Theatre of Chicago—from a ground-floor glimpse of artists at work.