THIS WEEK ONLY. 4 STARS. DO NOT MISS!!!
By Venus Zarris
Between my father, before he passed away, and my mother, for the past few years I have spent a lot of time in hospitals and doctor’s offices. One visit to a doctor’s office found my mother on a table, in a very compromised position as the nurse prepared to insert a catheter. In the heat of a battle with bladder cancer, Mom was frightened and in pain. I held her hand as the procedure began but the pressure was unbearable for her. Just when it seemed that Mom would not be able to endure it any longer and as she lay vulnerable on the table with feet in stirrups, I leaned close to her ear and asked if I could borrow some money.
She started to laugh. The nurse started to laugh. In a matter of moments the worst of the procedure was over and my Mom didn’t even realize it was done.
If there is one thing that gives me comfort from all of the time spent in the company if illness and disease, it is laughter. Nothing can ease suffering like humor, be it appropriate or irreverent.
Now take the suffering in a doctor’s office, travel back to the 1300s and multiply it exponentially by introducing the Black Death, a plague that killed about 50% of the European population over a period of four years. Nothing that any of us has experienced in our lifetimes has come close to the horrifying suffering of this inconceivable event.
And there you have the setting for Red Noses. This stylized staging of playwright Peter Barnes 1985 Olivier Award-Winner opens with a huge cast engaged in a ball game. They squeal with delight every time a goal is scored and encourage the audience to do the same, lulling us into a playful sense of false security. And then the ball drops, so to speak.
Strawdog Theatre’s brilliant production of Red Noses is one of the most remarkable examples of delivering story and emotion through conceptual presentation that I have seen in years. And through this creative approach, rather than with a straight forward rendering of such morbid material, we are captivated, entertained, enlightened and connected to the universal humanity of suffering and redemption.
I cannot praise the experience or the message of Red Noses enough. It delivers remarkable storytelling. It displays remarkable ensemble work. It is guided by remarkable direction. It makes a remarkably lasting and spellbinding connection.
During this time of unimaginable horror, a young priest receives a calling from God to sooth suffering through the gift of laughter. He assembles a band of followers to aid in this great commission and through their journey we see the best and the worst of human manifestations.
There are moments of great humor as well as moments of extreme heartbreak. Red Noses actually inspired an epiphany for me. I am normally on guard when storytelling employs emotional manipulation. Devices such as flashbacks or tearful tributes to the dearly departed leave me feeling heavily handled. But then I realized that my resistance to this excessive emotionality has come when someone was trying to sell me something, be that a commercial product or formula.
Red Noses evokes extreme emotion, not as a ploy to sell, but as a bridge to unite our collective humanity that is so battered on the rocks of superficiality.
Director Matt Hawkins has accomplished this before at House Theatre of Chicago with his incredible production of Hatfield & McCoy. Through incomparable ensemble work and by infusing a magical musical touch, thanks to Music Director Mike Przygoda, Hawkins creates theater as unique as it is rewarding. House Theatre’s influence on Strawdog is nothing short of a beguiling meeting of the minds that pays off for the audience with a spectacular theatrical event.
EVERY member of this completely committed and intelligent 23-person cast brings something wonderful to the endeavor. Individually and collectively, this is deceptively complicated performance that transcends.
Sarah Goeden stands out, as Bells, in an outstanding ensemble. Wordlessly she evokes more connection to the story and her character than most actors achieve with long monologues. Goeden is consistently one of Chicago theater’s most gifted assets and she subtly shines in this production.
Peter Barnes has written a masterpiece polemic on religious corruption, human frailty, the chaos of fear and most profoundly and poignantly, the beguiling magic and redemption of laughter in the face of the hardest of times.This is a script that you will want to read after you watch. It is not a simple undertaking, but Strawdog brings it to vivid, playful and rewarding life.
My only regret is that I caught this production too late in the run to see it a second time, something I very rarely do. This is the CLOSING WEEKEND. Red Noses is more powerful and entertaining than you can envision without seeing it for yourself. Even if you have to rearrange your plans, DO NOT MISS THIS PRODUCTION.
4 STARS
(“Red Noses” plays July 14 through July 18 23 at Theater On The Lake, 2400 N. Lakeshore Drive. 312-742-PLAY)
Wed, Jul 14: 7:30pm
Thu, Jul 15: 7:30pm
Fri, Jul 16: 7:30pm
Sat, Jul 17: 7:30pm
Sun, Jul 18: 6:30pm
After Thought: Unexpectedly, I attended Red Noses only a few days after loosing a dear friend to AIDS related cancer. (the closest epidemic that we’ve seen to the Black Death) The constant that helped my friend through so many hard times was laughter. Its healing powers are incalculable and although it may not always prove to be the cure, it is almost always a miraculous treatment.
John would have LOVED this play.
Red Noses production photos by Chris Ocken
Strawdog sign photo by Venus Zarris
* Visit Theatre In Chicago for more information on this show. Red Noses- Play Detail- Theatre In Chicago
Caffeine Theatre brings back Dylan Thomas’s dark and funny play about the dreams and waking lives of a fictional Welsh town that was originally broadcast as a radio play in 1954. This iconic favorite features 9 actors portraying the play’s 47 characters, bringing to life inner longings bubbling beneath the surface of the town’s daily life, endearing us to humanity’s bawdy and magnificent possibilities. The play was deemed a “must see,” “indisputable triumph,” and “breathtaking” when produced last fall by the Department of Cultural Affairs at the Storefront Theater.
