Folk Bound
Written by Anne Walaszek
Original music by Pamela Maurer
Conceived and Directed by Nathan Wonder
at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood (map)
thru April 19 | tickets: $15-$20 | more info
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Talented ensemble breathe life into new work
Duplicity Ensemble presents
Folk Bound
Review by John Olson
Upon arriving at the Zoo Studio for Folk Bound, audience members are given a book of fairy tales to read before the curtain goes up (actually, goes down – but more on that later). Each book, and there are a variety of them, contains a recommended tale for reading. Meanwhile, a portable “phonograph” (remember those quaint music-playing devices from the 20th Century?) plays music from a selection of vinyl LP’s and the audience is encouraged to choose the next to be played after one finishes. The messages of these two audience engagement devices are clear: 1. we are entering the world of fairy tales and mythology, and 2. the audience will have to do some work.
If that’s starting to sound like Into the Woods (which as of this opening night is playing in two locations within two miles north and south of this production), it is, but there’s a twist. The storybook characters Lucy meets are sick or missing as a result of the storyteller’s failing health. The journey provides some fine comic moments thanks to Walaszek’s clever writing and smart comedic performances directed by Nathan Wonder. There’s a gender-bending casting of Hansel (Anna Zerwer) and Gretel (Johnny Kyle Cook) complete with wryly caricatured German accents, an alternately tame and predatory wolf (Jason Nykiel) and a goofy frog (Cook). Nykiel even has some fun playing a tree. Though the tree has no lines, Nykiel creates some funny moments by adding some deliberately clueless facial expressions and poses. Chelsea Angeletti is an engaging and most-watchable central figure as Lucy. We want to follow her on her journey, which also includes some balletic dancing choreographed by Annaleah Tubbin and original a cappella music by Pamela Maurer (a.k.a. Baby Money).
Lucy finally makes it to Mom’s house, where she finds her mother dying, with an angel of death named Gaunt (spookily played by Taylor Glowac) hovering over her. After Mom passes, Lucy heads home, and it’s here that one starts feeling lost in the woods, as the premise of the piece changes, making it harder to follow Walaszek’s point. The story moves away from the fairy tale characters and into mythology. Lucy is transformed and then played by a different actress, Carolyn Sinon. On her way home the personages she encounters – rather than the likes of Rapunzel – are the Sun, Trees and ultimately Sisyphus (Nykiel) from Greek mythology.
If the first hour of Folk Bound makes the point that stories live as long as there is someone to tell them – a valid point that is entertainingly told here with credit due to writer, creative team and performers – the point of the final 30 minutes is much less clear, With the help of program notes, I gather Walaszek is saying something about growing into mature, responsible adulthood. – another worthy topic, but not at all set up by the first hour of the play. In a highly symbolic piece like this, we need more help from the playwright as to what this onstage world is about. What are its rules, its constructs? It’s okay to ask an audience to think, to work a little bit when viewing a piece of theater, but you at least need to give a sense of what the reward will be for taking the journey and at best, sweep the audience into it whether they work at it or not. Otherwise, a piece can just feel self-consciously arty. It’s to the credit of Walaszek, Wonder and the company that for the first two-thirds of the play, they avoid becoming pretentious, but the final third borders on becoming “precious” – so easy to do in a symbolic piece like this. There’s much talent on display here from this brand new company and a cast that has not yet been seen a lot on Chicago stages. It’s likely we’ll see good things from them all in the coming years. That the Chicago theater scene has this sort of sustained vitality may just be the main takeaway from this play about re-birth and growth.
Rating: ★★½
Folk Bound continues through April 19th at Zoo Studios, 4001 N. Ravenswood (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 7pm. Tickets are $15-$20, and are available online at BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at DuplicityEnsemble.org. (Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission)
artists
cast
Chelsea Angeletti (Lucy #1), Anna Zerwer (Mother, Hansel, Sun), Jason Nykiel (Wolf, Pied Piper, Sy), Amy Rapp (Gothel, Marina, Trees), Johnny Kyle Cook (Gretel, Peony, Shoreline), Taylor Glowac (Gaunt), Carolyn Sinon (Lucy #2).
behind the scenes
Nathan Wonder (director), Annaleah Tubbin (choreographer), Barbara Charlene (production designer), Carla Hamilton (costume designer).
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