“WTF?” “Exactly! Genius.”

Kubrickian

Kubrickian is the current don’t-miss production at The Factory Theater. This ground-breaking dark comedy, written by local playwright Zach Peercy and brought to life by director AJ Schwartz, is a mind-bending ode to the legendary Stanley Kubrick and a heart-opening journey towards better, conscious, and connected versions of masculinity in a hostile, isolating world. This play is a particular delight for those who love to dive into what a piece of art is about, working the puzzle that makes the meaning.

Chicago-based writer Zack Peercy has a library of works that include a 2021 O’Neill Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist, and Blue Ink Playwriting Award Semi-Finalist. His play Muffed was a recent Factory Theater production also well-received. Peercy describes himself as writing hahas and boohoos that are all about people trying to say ‘I’m sorry and I love you.’ Kubrickian is a funny, introspective piece that is a love song to the men whose tools are not weapons and violence but compassion and support that surpasses the scars.

The set is almost not, and it is just enough. Josh Philoon (Set Design), Emmitt Socey (Lighting Design), and Isaac Mandel (Sound Design) manage to evoke a torturous alien prison cell in purest minimalism. Sound and lighting work flawlessly together, creating an ominously inhuman environment that is at once coldly technical and unceasingly oppressive.

The stark-white, seamless floor, underlit with blue light sets the men adrift on an exposed, untethered platform. A completely unobstructed three-quarter view reinforces the vulnerability of the characters while making the audience observers barriered behind the dark, peering telescopically at the life forms bouncing about the sterile cube. The form of the portal that intermittently opens to threaten the captive men in this tale of masculinity is nothing if not vulvic.

The audience enters to three men on stage clearly trapped despite the lack of walls. When the action begins it is quickly explosive, setting the tone of danger and damage. As the men attempt to fill the endless void of their captivity they just can’t stop talking about film Director Stanley Kubrick – unless it’s to sing about Kubrick, or act out some Kubrick, or well, really anything about Kubrick. Somehow in their surreal experience small talk becomes deep and fear becomes the camaraderie of men under siege who are nevertheless determined to raise each other up again and again. Trapped in this inhuman world the men seek escape by plunging deeper and deeper into a single point of connection. Throughout it all is laughter, because what else can you do when facing (un)certain death?

True to form for playwright Zack Peercy, the layers are continually building, continually evolving. Kubrick references and factoids are laid out heavily in the first scenes. As the play develops Peercy uses a famous picadillo of Kubrick’s (repetition to perfection) as a thematic vehicle, having the characters discuss, then act out epic Kubrick scenes. First this is distraction for the characters, simple entertainment; then it is bonding. Finally, it is a manifestation of the play’s major theme.

Rio Soliz Ragazzone is tremendous as Danny, a seemingly ordinary guy who just wants to get back to living his unexamined life. But being trapped in a hostile unreality with torture and disfigurement waiting on the other side of an unpredictable doorway has a way of making one face their shadowy truths. Ragazzone is effortlessly natural as Danny struggles to face both inner and outer demons.

If Danny is the man transformed, Chris (Taylor Mercado Owen) is the spark, the torch, the impetus. Chris is a foil to Danny, alight, passionate and always examining. Mercado Owen plays Chris with an unsinkable, high-velocity sort of energy. Despite the circumstances Chris is unreasonably carefree, diving into his passion for Kubrick. Once Chris suffers an unknown horror Mercado Owen drops into a compelling lower gear. Mercado Owen and Ragazzone have a captivating energy in the final scenes.

Ben Auxier (Howard) starts the play off with bang, and possibly an incantation. Auxier adeptly manages his unusual role with its atypical challenges, all while never leaving the stage. He may be lost, but he is not forgotten by his companion captives.

The rest of the creative team includes Charlotte Brown (stage manager); Kate Lass (fight choreographer); Ethan Smith (intimacy); Valerie Cambron (costume designer); Grady Gilbert (movement designer); Morgan Watkinson (master electrician); and Jacque Bischoff (makeup effects)

The Factory Theater produces original works that are unique, no-holds-barred experiences and Kubrickian is no exception. Bone up on your Stanley Kubrick and get ready to be shocked, amused, and inspired with hope for dawning man.

Recommended

Reviewed by Soleil Rodrigue

Kubrickian presented on an extended run by The Factory Theater, now through March 28, Fridays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM with matinees Sundays at 3:00 PM through February 22. All shows are at The Factory Theater, 1623 West Howard St, Chicago

Tickets are $30 and may be purchased through the box office by calling 312-275-5757 or by visiting TheFactoryTheater.com. Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com