Playwright: George Bernard Shaw
At: Goodman, 170 N. Dearborn
Phone: (312) 443-3800; $25-$55
Runs through: June 6
Although the Goodman production doesn't mention it, George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House has a subtitle: A Fantasia in The Russian Manner on English Themes, which points audiences in the direction of Anton Chekhov and The Cherry Orchard, to which Heartbreak House bears some resemblance. Both plays deal with the cluelessness of the upper class poised on the brink of seismic social and political change. In spite of somber, pessimistic views of people and their priorities and pretenses, both manage to provide an audience with an almost unfair share of laughter and mayhem.
Shaw has been quoted as saying Heartbreak House is his favorite, and one can clearly see why in this ethereal, compelling, and wildly creative production, directed by Kate Whoriskey, who last season gave audiences an astonishing, magical take on Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.
Everything that makes Shaw a classic, beloved playwright is here: the Shavian wit; the affection for characters who are able to be both stand-ins for ideas as well as culpable human beings, with recognizable, sympathetic and often absurd foibles; and the tightly wrought theme that comes out through an entertaining story. In Heartbreak House, the action takes place in the cuckoo household of Captain Shotover, a retired sea captain, dabbler in mysticism and father of two daughters, both bored upper crust women whose lack of purpose leads one to be a self-professed 'slut' and the other to be a mean-spirited, selfish ball breaker. It's the eve of World War I, and the house has attracted its share of odd visitors to bear our Shaw's portrait of a self-absorbed England, ill-prepared to deal with the harsh realities of war that lie just around the corner (kinda like another country we know so well and a time that is, well, as current as today's newspaper). We have an ingénue looking to marry a millionaire to help her father out of penury, the afore-mentioned sisters, their husbands and lovers, who have all the charm and confusion of farce, a burglar intent on arrest, and other assorted caricatures of Edwardian British society.
The great thing about Whoriskey's direction is how she manages to pull this complex and challenging work off with such panache and vibrant color. She has assembled a truly masterful thespian ensemble, headed by strong work from her Rose Tattoo star, Alyssa Bresnahan, who pulls off the nearly impossible trick of making a woman who's almost cartoonish still appear human and sympathetic. Jack Wetherall makes a wise Captain Shotover and Matt DeCaro, as wealthy industrialist 'Boss' Magnan, is full of bluster and bravado, barely hiding the incompetent man beneath. Heartbreak House is a true ensemble piece, and Whoriskey orchestrates this mélange of personalities with consummate skill. It's breathtaking.
Breathtaking, too, is Walt Spangler's set design, all artifice and fake green, to demonstrate the absence of anything real in these characters' lives. Cathy Zuvber's costumes and Michael Philippi's lighting both go a long way toward revealing Shaw's themes.
The short final act perfectly sums up the play and the production: it's explosive (literally), thought-provoking, funny, and achingly sad.