In a Dismal and Dystopian World

A Dark Wood

There’s no question about it. Today’s world has definitely become an absolute nightmare. Understandably, most of us are cautious and fearful of the dangerous and uncertain direction in which we’re headed. Seemingly unnecessary and endless wars rage on. Inflation has climbed to almost 4% and paychecks haven’t kept pace with the increases. Prices for everything, from food to fuel, have skyrocketed leaving almost everyone struggling to afford the basics. People are being rounded up and put in prisons without a clear reason for their confinement. Our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech and the press have been squelched, and the list just goes on and on. 

Eric Coble’s 100-minute one-act is set in a dismal and dystopian world that sadly could easily exist in the near future. A DARK WOOD is divided into three distinct vignettes. The production, under the direction of Steve Needham, begins with a brief Prelude. During this short opening scene, we observe three youngsters playing a game of hide-and-seek in and around a hilly landscape. It’s not really clear who they are or why we’re watching this scene. 

We barely comprehend what we just saw, as well as its significance, when suddenly the room darkens and the actual play begins. Act I is called “Inferno.” Something has obviously changed from the once joyful, carefree world of the opening scene. It opens on two young men trying desperately to persevere in The Mouth, which is some kind of rural, hilly landscape bordering a river. The youngest of the two, nicknamed Earthworm, is played with honesty and a believable drive for survival, by Renzo Vicente. Montrose, played by Carlos Andres Mai, is his volatile companion and sometime helpmate. They both appear to be cautiously biding their time, waiting for their number to be called, in order to escape their exile and join the rest of humanity on the far side of the river.

Act II, called “Purgatorio,” begins after the set, by scenic designer Will Hughes, is cleverly rearranged to create an entirely different locale. It’s called The Nest. There we meet lovely Shannon Leigh Webber, as Miss Vivian. Portrayed with such sincerity and a profoundly personal understanding of the character, Webber stands out as the most empathetic and identifiable character in this production. Miss Vivian had once devoted her life to teaching literature to “Termites,” eager young minds who burrow through  books, in order to quickly learn as much as possible. In the country we once knew, schools and colleges satisfied one’s passion for education. Now, learning is a crime and books have been banned. Miss Vivian barely survives, hiding out in a rundown apartment, where she secretly conducts private classes with select students. Her current pupil is named Hummingbird, because she flits around so much. The youngster is nicely played by Delaney Vallese as a smart, emotionally damaged young teenager. The tutorial is just coming to an end when there’s an ominous knock at the door. In bursts Raul Alonso, playing Dipper, the building’s despicable landlord. The menacing and violent encounter between the three concludes the act, foreshadowing the terror of what’s going to come next.

Finally, we reach Act III, named “Paradiso.” The location is ironically called The Pearly Gates and the scene is simply a table and chair. A tough, female police officer of this new regime, named Armadillo, breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience about a betrayal and her search for forgiveness. It’s not clear who she’s actually talking to, but the powerful performance delivered by Marlee Feacher creates a very believable character. She delivers her long monologue with candor and passion. As the character removes her protective armor, piece by piece, the ardent young woman sincerely confesses to a controversial act she has committed.

In the final moments of the play, as the theatergoer begins to process everything that they’ve just witnessed, a new thought transpires. This depressing, dystopian story may be exactly where we’re all heading (unless hatred is banished and kindness and intelligence prevails). It’s a frightening realization. But we also come to understand that the characters of Earthworm, Hummingbird and Armadillo are siblings; in fact, this shattered family is actually the three young children we first observed playing hide-and-seek in the Prelude.

Eric Coble’s play is creative and insightful, particularly as he tries to mirror the form of Dante’s Divine Comedy. However, the play was, for me, a definite downer. Perhaps I came to the theatre weighed down by all the violence and hatred in today’s news. It could’ve been the never-ending, dark political climate that feels inescapable. Maybe it was the cold, cloudy Autumn day, with its continual rain, that had marred my mental state. But A DARK WOOD just hit me hit hard. Of course, the play made me think about the state of our world, but it seems like that preoccupies my mind most of the time. Coble’s play imagines something he refers to as “The Fix,” and how it was designed to right all the wrongs in the country. Clearly that effort failed.

 Although all the performances were excellent, I noticed a degree of choppiness in Steve Needham’s production. And not uncommon in Chicago theaters these days, this performance began very late, and then it was sometimes hampered by slow pacing. In addition, the intermittent blasts of cold air in the theatre made sitting in uncomfortable seats, without an intermission, just a bit too much. Spending almost two, uninterrupted hours in a dismal, dystopian world, became very unpleasant, gloomy and heartbreaking, and Tin Drum Theatre Company’s production only left me with a depressing feeling of hopelessness.        

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented October 15-November 1 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available at the box office, by calling 773-975-8150 or by going to boxoffice@greenhousetheater.org or to  www.TinDrumTheatre.com.

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

Photos by Lance Sorenson