Playwright: Nathan Allen
At: House Productions at the Viaduct, 3111 N. Western Ave.
Phone: ( 773 ) 251-2195; $10-$19
Runs through: March 12
Audiences versed in the House aesthetic, upon entering the Viaduct's Great Room, look first at the roof, searching for hints of the spectacular special-effects that are this company's hallmark. Nothing falls out of the sky this time, but before it's over, we will have witnessed characters, dialogue and plot twists borrowed from Nathaniel Hawthorne, Star Wars and the Indiana Jones canon, as well as quasi-Asian martial-arts action sequences inspired by sources ranging from Hong Kong Kung Fu films to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Oh, and a kick-ass live rock-and-roll score, too.
Curse of the Crying Heart takes us to Japan—indicated by dojo decor, ubiquitous sake and sushi, and a sprinkling of tourist-book courtesies—where a lone Ronin calling himself 'Sorrow' becomes embroiled in royal intrigue involving a deposed princess, her noble-but-nervy betrothed, a duplicitous courtier, a foreign emissary, a jealous Captain-of-the-Guard, a seductive maidservant with a secret, and a pair of elders with a bigger one. Gradually, our hero's universe expands from the immediate to the cosmic—yes, JUST like Raiders of the Lost Ark—leaving him once again bereft of his beloved and unfulfilled in his destiny ( to be concluded in 2006 ) .
But story is not so important in a House production as 300 spectators pumped up on hot-metal music ready for some big, noisy, full-throttle, plaster-your-brains-to-the-ceiling FUN. They are not disappointed: author Nathan Allen swashbuckles and chestbeats up a storm as the romantic Sorrow, besides doubling on guitar and lead vocals with the band. Director Dennis Watkins brings the script home in under two hours, while fight choreographer Matthew Hawkins, in addition to playing the doomed Captain Kobushi, presents us with a thrilling four-on-one Mortal Kombat duel in the first five minutes. Maria McCullough, Carolyn Defrin, Jake Minton, Shawn Pfautsch, Michael E. Smith and Molly Brennan likewise reaffirm their indispensability.
And if you missed Part One in the trilogy, 2004's San Valentino And The Melancholy Kid? Well, you can purchase the DVD—available at all performances—but at a top ticket price of only $19, why not acquaint yourself NOW with the contenders for Chicago's next breakthrough artistic ensemble?