Playwrights: Tim Clue and Spike Manton
Millennium Theatre at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.
Phone: ( 773 ) 327-5252; $18-$28
Runs through: April 17
BY SCOTT C. MORGAN
It's a great American vacation tradition: Kids trapped in the backseat of a car pestering their parents by repeatedly asking, 'Are we there yet?'
You may find yourself asking that same question at times during Leaving Iowa, a much-acclaimed comedy by local playwrights Tim Clue and Spike Manton now in its Chicago debut after a string of regional engagements.
Like many family road trips, Leaving Iowa meanders along a bit too long in spots, making you wonder why and where you're going on this journey. Thankfully, the sentimental and touching conclusion of Leaving Iowa makes the trip very worthwhile.
Clue and Manton's premise is this: A big city journalist named Don Browning returns to his hometown of Winterset, Iowa, to fulfill his dead father's wishes to have his remains scattered on the grounds of his parents' house. But when he discovers that the spot was plowed over for a big-box supermarket, Don ventures out on a final road trip with his father to find a suitable memorial spot.
All the while, Don flashes back to memories of his childhood vacations and his family's Midwestern quirks that are not so different from anyone else's family. It's these reminiscences that make up the both the muscle and occasional flab of the play.
Clue and Manton have fun sending up some of the stereotypes of family vacation dynamics ( father getting lost, sibling backseat rivalry ) , but these illustrative examples could be nipped and tucked to make things speedier. And though we are told that Don's father was unexpressive and impersonal, there does seem to be some sort of missing scene between father and son that would have made the show cut even deeper emotionally.
Still, the play offers plenty laughs in the same vein of the Cohen brothers' send up of colloquial characters in the film 'Fargo.' Characters are painted with a broad strokes of condescension and gradual admiration ( thankfully for those of us who don't want to be preached at, it's mostly the former ) .
In addition to his collaborative writing duties, Clue also directs and stars as Don in Leaving Iowa. Clue's low-key approach to Don is fine and to-the-point, though one wonders if someone else less-busy could have wrought more dramatic weight out of the role.
The rest of the cast is a fun bunch to watch. Barb Wengerd is hilarious as the annoying sister ( her impertinent child impersonations are dead-on, particularly when she goes limp during one whiney tantrum ) . Former Second City Skybox performer Howie Johnson has a field day camping it up a number of yokel Iowa locals. Individually, Bradley Armacost and Angela Bullard provide great character turns as the parents, though one would be hard-press to realistically see them as a couple.
Leaving Iowa is enhanced by an original folksy score by the local band Sons of the Never Wrong and a pre-show projected display of odd Iowa facts. Who knew that Illinois' western neighbor could be so quirky and interesting?
