Be a Man

Shane

City Lit is opening its 46th season with a new adaptation of a classic Western. Originally published as a novel in 1949 and made famous in a 1953 film adaptation, it tells the story of a mysterious drifter, the titular Shane. He comes into the lives of the Starretts, a homesteading family in 1880s Wyoming, as they face increasingly violent efforts by a wealthy rancher to force them off their farm. Mark Pracht adapted the novel for the stage and also directs. Anchoring the show is Michael B. Wood in the title role. He does an excellent job portraying the inner conflict of a man trying to forget a violent past while facing a violent present. “Stoic” can be hard to portray on stage in a way that doesn’t come off wooden. Wood did a great shop showing that still waters run deep.

The fight choreography, by Victor Bayona and Rick Gilbert of R&D Choreography, was also a highlight for me. It was well done both physically and dramatically. It neither shied away from the violence nor glamorized it, and it serves the story well. A scene in particular ending in a broken arm was just this side of gruesome, and very effective. You could feel the audience wince. Even when Shane is defending himself from hired thugs, the violence he commits takes a toll. The fights, and thus the show, force the audience to sit with the knowledge that whether willing participants or not, violence defines manhood for the men in this story.

I do think the show’s framing device didn’t quite succeed. Bob, the Starrett’s son, is portrayed by the same actor as an adult narrating the story and his ten-year-old self acting in it. I understand that in translating the story for the stage, you have to find a different way of getting the back story to the audience. And the impression Shane makes on Bob is the through line for the story’s theme on being a man. Bruce Holtman, who portrays Bob, did his best in transitioning between the two roles, but I still think casting a child to play a child would have landed harder.

City Lit’s new season is off a strong start with this production. It is a thoughtful meditation on what it means to ‘be a man.’ A strong cast and some first-class fight choreography help bring this story to life, and it should definitely be on your list of Chicago theater to see this fall.

Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented through October 4 by City Lit Theater Company at 1020 W Bryn Mawr, Chicago.

Tickets can be purchased at citylit.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.