Peter Pan’s Shadow, Part One: Neverland

A make-shift stage in a make-shift theatre may be the perfect way to showcase hypnotic make-believe. The first of three, Peter Pan’s Shadow, Part One: Neverland is a delightfully dark spell of magic presented by the Dream Theatre Company in Pilsen. Written and directed by Jeremy Menekseoglu, the well-crafted and bold script delves into the story of how Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Neverland came to be.

Here, Peter Pan is a selfish boy whose only concerns are seeking out his next adventure and feeling happy, free and in-charge, no matter what the cost. The play opens with Peter and Tinker Bell, the scene painfully depicting Peter’s domination and Tinker Bell’s gullible codependence. Their relationship, primary to the play, mirrors the secondary but also well-developed relationship of Captain Hook with Smee. Hooks want to be the ‘Pirate King’ in Neverland, and Peter arrives in town wanting the very same. While Peter manipulates Tinker Bell with false promises of love and recognition, Captain Hook controls Smee and others with violence and demands; and both are masters in the art of belittling.

Menekseoglu’s rendering of Peter Pan’s origin is both imaginative and harrowing. Peter does have a mother, though the boy can hardly remember what to call her. Tinker Bell, a stand in for his mother, waits until the day he will return her love and admiration. Yet an adventure with Peter’s newly discovered sister ensures that will not happen. Peter’s lack of empathy for his sister, whom he and we never learn the name of, or his mother destroy them and further isolate Peter.

The script, while quite faithful to the original story, in quite imaginative and takes liberties that are both delightful and powerful. Peter now has a sister. The retelling adds depth to Peter’s not wanting to be seen crying by Wendy or others, explains how his Shadow came to be and how Peter became tied to it, re-envisions Peter’s sharing a kiss with Wendy and posits how Captain Jim became Captain James Hook.

The cast play their roles so well that there were times I forgot I was watching a play at all. The relations and power-plays unfold with narcissism, egomania, anger, desire and fear that are visceral and real. The set is done away with and replaced with a screen that displays a simple backdrop for settings. And the cast is also the production crew of the play, with Menekseoglu appearing as Captain Hook. This is their play, and they do an amazing job bringing it to life.

Just as the company proclaims itself, “Dream Theatre continues to strive to deliver the highest art in its most raw, unflinching and entertaining form.” This is a most wonderful play that I cannot recommend enough. And with “Peter Pan’s Shadow, Part Two: Everland” coming in May, this series of plays gives me another reason to believe spring won’t come soon enough.

Peter Pan’s Shadow Part One: Neverland runs through March 4, 2012. Performances take place Thursday through Satruday at 8:00pm and on Sundays at 7:00 pm at Dream Theatre Company, located at 556 West 18th Street; Chicago, IL 60616. General admission is $18.00; industry and student tickets are $15.00. Group sales and subscription packages are available. For more information, call 773-552-8616

Chicago3Media Tags: Peter Pan’s Shadow Part One: Neverland Deanna Trejo Jeremy Menekseoglu Captain Hook Tinker Bell Dream Theater Company Theater Review

Originally published at http://www.chicago3media.com on February 14, 2012

Clutter – The True Story of the Collyer Brothers

On a simple level, “CLUTTER The True Story of the Collyer Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out,” is a play about hoarders dying among their 40 ton collection and in their dysfunction in 1940s New York City. Underneath this blanket explanation is a story of two sets of brothers, the relationship of the packrat Collyer brothers paralleled with that of the Dolan brothers who are investigating their deaths.

Mark Saltzman’s play about real-life Langley and Homer Collyer brings to life – and even tries to make understandable – a subject that has recently become another pathology for reality T.V. (Saltzman originally wrote the play in 2004, well before the T.V. show “Hoarders: Buried Alive” debuted in 2010.) Saltzman, seven-time Emmy Award winning playwright who has also written for The Muppets and Sesame Street, brings a playfulness and warmth to what could simply be a story about dysfunction at its horrifying worst.

The play stars Andrew J. Pond as the eccentric and aspiring pianist Langley Collyer and Edward Kuffert as the more intelligent yet still timid and defensive Homer Collyer (who earned his J.D. in maritime law yet never put the degree to use). Both play their roles quite well – Pond in Langley’s grandiose flourishes and moments of inferiority and fear in the face of insecurity, and Kuffert in his ultimately unactualized desire to separate
himself from his needy brother. Their timing together is perfectly in synch, especially during a dramatic fight that exemplifies their entangled and dysfunctional relationship, one that is based as much on fear as it is on love. Both actors let their characters takeover in this intense moment, and the scene is perfectly carried out without being overacted.
During the first act, we see the Collyer brothers’ father walk out of their lives with no explanation a few years after the death of their mother. In real life, the mother lived on in the home with the sons for a few years after their father’s departure. Yet this isn’t a simple explanation for Langley and Homer’s hoarding tendencies – they are already holding on to all they can before their father’s departure. Objects, even scraps, are held onto for their possible potential and not for their current use.

The other set of brothers, Sgt. Reilly Dolan, played by Joe Mack, and Patrolman Kevin Dolan, played by Michael Jay Bullaro, are just as much main characters as the Collyer brothers, but because they are less of a spectacle throughout the production it is easy to see them as supporting characters.  This was evident during the Q & A with the actors after the performance when an audience member spoke of the ‘two main characters’ and the actors asked which two. The Dolan brothers have their own struggles, which Mack and Bullaro perform well, though Bullaro seems to overact a few times throughout the play. Reilly is a controlling older brother who doesn’t understand and has a hard time accepting Kevin’s struggles as a P.O.W. survivor from WWII.

Yet even with a moment or two of exaggerated drama, the two characters’ come together near then end of the play in a cathartic moment that is quite believable and poignant. The dramatic and incredible struggles of the Collyer brothers mirror that of the more identifiable Dolan brothers, and both the writing and the acting are subtle enough that the audience is almost unconscious of the parallel.

The Dolan brothers are an invention of Saltzman’s, one which was added in after a few readings, and pulls the play together. Their character helped me relate to the play and the Collyer brothers because they themselves were relatable. If I can’t quite relate to Langley’s dependence on Homer and his terror of being alone, I can at least relate to Kevin’s being ordered to call different girls in Reilly’s matchmaking process. Kevin’s panic over rats, clutter and flashbacks mirror Langley’s terror of being alone, and both Homer and Reilly are portrayed as older brothers whose attempts to help are really thinly veiled control.

The modest set design, by Andrei Onegin, is ingeniously efficient. The Collyer brothers’ home is framed behind a screen, giving the audience the illusion of seeing into another world and back in time. The screen also doubles as a backdrop that goes dark for projecting the month and year of a given scene. The stage in front of the screen is where the ‘real world’ happens, where the Dolan brothers’ investigations and own relationship play out.

This is an enjoyable piece of theatre that doesn’t simply portray the compulsion of hoarding in a horrifying light. It’s a play that invites us to identify with characters that struggle with and love their family, and it shows us that all people have their dysfunctions, some just more extremely than others.

I highly recommend attending the play on a Thursday evening when there is a Q & A with the cast after the performance that is led by Dr. Scott Kaplan, an Illinois licensed clinical psychologist. During this discussion, the audience, Dr. Kaplan and the cast address questions about hoarding and other themes explored in the play. The discussion was revealing, showing how many peoples’ lives were directly affecting by hoarding – either as a hoarder themselves or by knowing a hoarder.

CLUTTER is directed by Wayne Mell (Managing Director at Citadel since 2009) and produced by Wendy Kaplan, of MadKap Productions. Wendy Kaplan was previously Managing Director of Stage Two Theatre Company and has produced for many regional theatre companies and worked on various Broadway productions. She has also produced many shows at Citadel Theatre Company in Lake Forest, including Something’s Afoot,
which was also directed by Mell.

CLUTTER runs Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $15.00 for students, $30.00 for seniors, $30-35 for groups and $40 for general admission. For tickets, call the Greenhouse Theater Box Office at 773.404.7336 or visit http://www.greenhousetheater.org. The Box Office is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12-8 p.m. and Sunday from 12-4 p.m. For group tickets call 312.423.6612 or visit http://www.grouptheatertix.com.

Chicago3Media Tags: Deanna Trejo Clutter Collyer Brothers New York City REality TV Mark Saltzman Hoarders The Muppets Sesame Street Andrew J. Pond Homer Collyer Langley Collyer Edward Kuffert Joe Mack Michael Jay Bullaro POW WW II Wayne Mell Citadel Theater Lake Forest Illinois Chicago Wendy Kaplan MadKap Productions Greenhouse Theater
Originally Published on http://www.chicago3media.com February 5, 2012