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Chicago Tribune
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: New adaptation of ‘Tale of Two Cities' at Shattered Globe leaves us sidelined from Dickens' story
Many of Charles Dickens novels — I am thinking 'David Copperfield,' 'Oliver Twist' and 'A Christmas Carol' — are beloved for their clarity, unity and timeless accessibility. 'A Tale of Two Cities' is not in that category. That Dickensian creation has, for my money, the greatest opening sentence ever. And one worth thinking about right now: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insist on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.' But, otherwise, the story, set in both London and Paris, in and around the French Revolution, is not the easiest to follow. Hence, perhaps, Brendan Pelsue's new adaptation, first seen in Atlanta in 2024, now in its Chicago premiere at Shattered Globe Theatre and billed by the author as a 'new riff' on 'A Tale of Two Cities.' The riff factor is considerable in a meta, self-aware kind of way, designed I think to emphasize the novel's themes of social justice and draw out contemporary parallels. But this also suggests a certain insecurity with the complexities of the actual text: audiences aren't dumb and can figure out that history repeats itself without being hammered with that truth. As one example, audiences are asked to take part in the show, providing crowd reactions according to real-time instructions from members of the cast. 'Shock from the crowd, please,' is one example. This all sucks up time, especially when actors aren't satisfied with the quality of the audience's work. There are some talented actors in director Mikael Burke's Shattered Globe production, which features Demetra Dee, Daria Harper, Jazzma Pryor, Diego Vazquez Gomez, Glenn Obrero, Jeff Rodriguez, William Anthony Sebastian Rose II and Penelope Walker. And Burke is a creative and skilled director. But this show is just very slow, heavy going and, to be frank, the additional layers presented by the adaptation dispel rather than free up the narrative tension inherent in the Dickens novel. On the night I was there, heads were drooping. I've seen some effective stage adaptions that take this kind of tack, where everyone makes clear they are actors doing an adaptation of something old and stodgy (at the Neo-Futurists, most notably) but this one proceeds with insufficient clarity and coherence. Stakes never rise. As a result, empathy is squelched and the work of one of history's most compassionate novels is reduced to an alienating experience that does the opposite of draw you into the tale. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@ When: Through May 31 Where: Shattered Globe at Theater Wit, 1229 Belmont Ave. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Chicago Tribune
04-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘Lobby Hero' by Shattered Globe is a reminder of what an off-Loop play can be
There was but one show up and running at Theater Wit on Belmont Avenue this past weekend, a depressing state of affairs given that there are three venues in that building, not to mention the three more theaters that used to be next door at what once was the storied Theatre Building Chicago, and now is in a state of apparent abandonment. That paucity of activity lent additional poignancy to the one current attraction within what used to be the thriving Belmont Avenue theater district: the superb new Shattered Globe Theatre production of Kenneth Lonergan's 2001 play 'Lobby Hero.' Time was, the Chicago theater frequently offered this kind of beguiling off-Loop combination, with an excellent, proven script without predictable didacticism but suffused with lives of quiet desperation; enough characters that we are not perpetually listening to a monologue or duologue; direction that cuts away the unnecessary and Chicago-style acting of singular intensity. At moments during the show Sunday, I felt like I'd been transported back to the glory days of Remains Theatre or the Steppenwolf of a decade or more ago, where the likes of Kieran Culkin and Michael Cera once roamed in shows like 'This is Our Youth,' which happens to share an author with 'Lobby Hero.' This Shattered Globe staging does not have such boldface names but it is every bit as ennobling of this work. Lonergan, now 62, gulp, likely needs no introduction: a fine American playwright who found much early favor in Chicago theater, he ultimately became mostly subsumed by Hollywood, writing (and directing) such cloudy-day screenplays as 'You Can Count on Me' and 'Manchester by the Sea,' one of my favorite movies of all time. But back when off-Broadway and the off-Loop were rolling, so was Lonergan, penning one fine new drama after another. Many of these shows now are unfamiliar to younger audiences and are ripe for revival. There has not been a major Chicago production of 'Lobby Hero' since the memorable Goodman staging in 2002, a whole different world from the one we now inhabit. When I interviewed Lonergan for the Tribune back in 2002, he told me 'I've always felt there's a lot to be mined from the ordinary situation.' Now more than ever, as the cliche goes. 'Lobby Hero' sure holds up well, especially the way it charts the oft-fraught relationship between cops and big-city residents. The titular security professional, as this loquacious young man thinks of himself, guards a Manhattan residential building on the graveyard shift when trouble, in the shape of two police officers, comes walking into his lobby. The senior officer, perhaps benign, perhaps not, has a friend in the building, or so he claims. His young, female partner is indebted to her mentor, but over the course of the play, we watch her essentially come of age in the ways of huge American cities and those who try to keep them in order. Meanwhile, our lobby hero has other problems, not the least of which is his boss, who not only dislikes his subordinates sleeping on the job but is caught up with law-enforcement problems of his own. Director Nate Santana's production stars the fabulous Elliot Esquivel whose take on Jeff is completely different from others I've seen; Esquivel plays him not so much as a hunched-over cipher but as a physically expansive young man, stymied by the languorous nature of his job and, indeed, the lobby itself, as policed by his boss (played by Terence Sims). Similarly superb is the staccato but vulnerable Emma Jo Boyden as the tense young cop, unsure of when and whom to trust, especially when it comes to her partner, played by Adam Schulmerich. Esquivel is really something, but this truly is an ensemble affair with a savvy set that was deftly designed by José Manuel Díaz-Soto (elevator and all). Santana cast and staged the show with a very clever and fresh eye and this great, new, retro 'Lobby Hero' just bops along in the most entertaining of fashions. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@ Review: 'Lobby Hero' (4 stars) When: Through March 1 Where: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes Tickets: $25-$52 at 773-975-8150 and
