You can't cheat an honest citizen, and whether to remind audiences of that fact shapes productions of Douglas Carter Beane's cautionary tale about a con artist on the loose in fashionable boho circles. Most theaters play it safe, making the prey a calf-eyed innocent, the predator a giddy young gamine on a fling and their encounter something that could only happen in the never-never-land of New York City. Cenacle Theater director David Hart Waggoner, unafraid to put an edge on the satire, has instructed his actors accordingly. As a result, both Chad Ortis' naive scribbler and Sarah Laudonia's name-dropping siren allow some steel to show through the sparkle to make clear the complicity between the Taker and the Took, both emerging as far more likable characters for their honesty and self awareness. We have all been flimflammed at some time in our lives (and those who say they haven't are either lying or just waiting their turn) and know it to be as commonplace as it is human. And if the technical resources of this south-side storefront ensemble are insufficient to bring its concept to fulfillment, their acknowledgment of this universal phenomenon is still to be commended.
Opened:
August 31, 2001
Ended:
September 30, 2001
Country:
USA
State:
Illinois
City:
Chicago
Company/Producers:
Cenacle Theater Company
Theater Type:
Regional
Theater:
Pilsen Theater
Theater Address:
556 West 18th Street
Phone:
312-491-8484
Running Time:
1 hr, 45 min
Genre:
Comedy
Director:
David Hart Waggoner
Review:
Cast:
Sarah Laudonia (Alexa Vere de Vere), Chad Ortis (Evan Wyler), Hillary Lynn Goldsher (Amber, etc.), Joe Roche (Morris Kaden, etc.), Craig Degel (Mike Stabinsky, etc.), Eva Yusa (Illya Mannon, etc.)
Technical:
Set/Lighting: David Hart Waggoner. Costumes: Michelle Mottram. Sound: Paul Baio.
Critic:
Mary Shen Barnidge
Date Reviewed:
September 2001
