Playwright: Jayshawn McGruder
At: Taken Ova Productions at Gorilla Tango, 1919 N. Milwaukee
Phone: 773-598-4549; $13
Runs through: June 30
BY MARY SHEN BARNIDGE
City officials and squeamish audience members can rest easy. None of the actors in Jayshawn McGruder's play actually smoke in the course of depicting their respective personae. These being waitstaff on break in the alley behind the Breakfast Hut, the legal status of lighting up provides one more grumble for a subculture with plenty to grumble about.
The eight employees at this 24-hour restaurant—allegedly based on a popular Boys' Town eatery—represent a generic cross-section of the personalities indigenous thereto: flirty Donna ( who might be sleeping with the boss ) , self-proclaimed stud Bruce, gold-digging Maria and fluttery Cory ( don't call him sissy, or he'll kick your butt ) . Among the less flamboyant personnel are know-it-all Quita, country-bred Amanda ( so thrilled to be in the Big City ) , earnest Todd ( getting hands-on experience in the food-service industry before assuming leadership in the family business ) and cokehead Kim, who—no surprise—owes her dealer money.
Even for a serial drama promising a different chapter each month, this is a pretty flimsy premise on which to build a storyline. The material focusing on the workplace presents intriguing glimpses of a world rarely seen by outsiders—the annoying customers who don't read the menu before ordering or refuse to make eye contact with their server, for example, or the competition among minimum-wage earners whose livelihood rests on their skill at manipulating emotional connections sparking consumer generosity. But much of the comedy is standard sketch-improv shtick, its cutesy-vulgar quotient boosted by the inclusion of a ladies' room toilet on the stage, and by product placement associated with company sponsor Erotic Boutique On Wheels.
But for all its silliness, this Taken Ova production nevertheless deserves its place on the roster at the Gorilla Tango Theatre, the recently-inaugurated storefront space recalling the sorely-missed Café Voltaire. Few other playhouses currently operating in Chicago are as dedicated to presenting a wide variety of entertainment as this rental space, and while its eclectic program has not yet included a Shakespeare or Chekhov, its location on the fringes of Bucktown's boho district offers ample opportunity for both legitimate plays and cabaret fare. If Smoke Break does nothing more than to promote more humane attitudes toward the hard-working people who feed—and nurture—the hungry, who can dispute its value?