By: Scott T. Barsotti
At: Curious Theatre Branch at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 280 S. Columbus
Phone: 773-267-6660; $15 or pay-what-you-can
Runs through: July 15
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
Nurturing rising writing talent is vital in the theater. More so than a reading, mounting a play in a full physical production gives playwrights a better understanding of what works and what doesn't.
Keep this in mind if you take in Scott T. Barsotti's world premiere play Jet Black Chevrolet. Unfortunately, the current script and staging all feel like they're still on the assembly line.
Barsotti is clearly trying to make a statement about the current condition of a divided America ruled by fear and denial. He focuses on two co-dependent parents and their issues regarding a 'missing-in-action' son who defied them to fight in Iraq.
The mother ( Debbie Safeblade ) is agoraphobic and is paranoid about everything—particularly the title jet black Chevrolet Impala parked ominously ( or metaphorically ) in front of the family's urban home. The out-of-work father ( Jeff Bivens ) does what he can to shelter and calm his wife, but it's clearly taking its toll on his patience. Throughout it all, their son, Zeddie ( Barsotti ) , appears to them in visions.
Perhaps Barsotti is trying to make what the characters don't say to mean much more than it does. But the current dialogue is too pedestrian ( mundane exchanges about food, showers, calling on neighbors and police ) and there is never a sense that this longtime couple is old enough to know each other's everyday patterns, let alone have a grown son. The lofty adjectives and adverbs the couple use to describe their views of each other early on also ring false.
With a sketchy script like this, the youngish lead actors have an uphill time to credibly own their characters. One exception is Kate Teichman as Zeddie's ex-girlfriend, Julie. Although there's little for her to work with, Teichman's single appearance, where she calmly reveals a secret, stands out thanks to her ability to convey a troubling and unspoken back story through uncomfortable pauses and pained inflections. Jayita Bhattacharya does what she can to give gravity to her two walk-on roles.
Director Beau O'Reilly of Curious Theatre Branch clearly had little-to-no budget to work with here, hence the two-dimensional black-and-white Velcro cutouts that make up the show's set and props. It's functional, though the cartoonish look clashes with the script's implied kitchen-sink drama setting.
As it stands, Jet Black Chevrolet still feels like a play parked somewhere between a reading and a full-scale production. It may have something powerful to say about the disconnects between people in a time of fear and war, but it's going to need more polishing before it's fully apparent.