An essential theatrical experience
Review by Lauren Whalen
When I first met Philip Dawkins, he was wearing bright yellow sneakers. "I like your Chucks!" I exclaimed as we, two teenagers in our first week of college, sat outside the Loyola University Chicago studio theater where we awaited our first Crafts for the Stage class. Eighteen years later, I sat in the audience at the Greenhouse Theater Center and listened, rapt, as Dawkins spun a true American fairy tale, complete with dead parents, nutty godmothers and a theme park that does its damnedest to assure no sadness whatsoever within its Anaheim fortress. The Happiest Place on Earth , Dawkins' one-
I've reviewed several productions in Greenhouse's Solo Celebration! series, which continues through February of next year. Some (such as the beautifully devastating ) are inspired by actual events, relying on a playwright and actor to embody a different world and engage the audience while doing so. Others, like the still-running , are the playwright's personal stories. The most imminent risk with the former is excessive loftiness, and with the latter there's the ever-present danger of indulgence. The Happiest Place on Earth is Dawkins' story, but it isn't. He never met his grandfather for whom he was named, a charismatic sportscaster and local celebrity in Albuquerque - Philip the elder died in 1963 on live TV, struck down by a brain aneurysm. Philip the elder left his wife Betty and four young daughters adrift, unsure of how to process their grief and move on while still preserving his memory. Come Christmas, Betty packs up the three elder daughters and heads to Disneyland, the peppy paradise that at the time was only eight years old. Can Mickey Mouse balloons and the Matterhorn Mountain lead to peace on earth for this broken family?
Using an old-school projector and plenty of visual aids, Dawkins leads the audience through an oral history of the events leading up to the fateful day, the often-problematic early days of the theme park, the trip itself and the aftermath. He's an engaging presenter, always ready with a joke or a twist of language, inserting himself into the narrative at the appropriate places while never ignoring the various perspectives of the women who actually lived the dream/nightmare. Like all things Disney, The Happiest Place on Earth is equal parts epic and deeply personal, sweet with more than a hint of bite. People sometimes forget the dark elements of Walt's work: family members lost forever, isolation, resolutions hard-won that don't always tie up in a pretty bow. But Dawkins pulls no punches, highlighting the beauty of Disney dream-come-true ideals while analyzing the harsh realities of grief in a pre-therapy era, the racism of the 1950's and the violent American culture that hasn't changed one bit. Dawkins gives each family member a distinctive and powerful voice, from the honey-toned yet scrappy Betty to the youngest, Nan (who was only two years old when her father passed, and thus experienced a very different childhood from her sisters), and most significantly, the third daughter who would later become Dawkins' mother, but in 1963 was a nine-year-old who just wanted to be a princess with a daddy again.
Only one scene - in which Dawkins' mother meets the Cinderella character face-to-face while lost in the park - feels a bit too on-the-nose, detracting slightly from the piece's lovely brutality. Overall, however, The Happiest Place on Earth is an essential theatrical experience, a twisted fairy tale of a mother and four sisters, making their way through a brave new world where everything can change in an instant shorter than a catchphrase. Dawkins has always been a treasure, a valuable asset to the Chicago theater scene, and his courageous, touching memory play exemplifies his unique, yet universal, take on family mythology.
The Happiest Place on Earth continues through October 23rd at Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln (map), with performances Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays 2:30pm. Tickets are $42-$48, and are available by phone (773-404-7336) or online through Vendini.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com ). More information at SideshowTheatre.org. (Running time: 80 minutes, no intermission)
behind the scenes
Jonathan L. Green (director), (scenic design, prop design), Ellie Rabinowitz (lighting design), Benno Nelson (dramaturg), Michael Huey (sound design), Darek Lane (stage manager), Samantha Joy (asst. stage manager), David Trudeau (master electrician), Ellen Willett (production manager), Brian Sprague (technical director), John Henley (poster illustration), Michael Brosilow (photos)
Tags: 16-0945, Benno Nelson, Brian Sprague, Chicago Theater, Darek Lane, David Trudeau, Ellen Willett, Ellie Rabinowitz, Greenhouse Theater, John Henley, Jonathan L. Green, Lauren Whalen, Michael Brosilow, Michael Huey, Mike Mroch, Philip Dawkins, post, Samantha Joy, Sideshow Theatre, Solo Celebration
Category: 2016 Reviews, Greenhouse Theater, Greenhouse Theater Center, Lauren Whalen, One-Man Show, Sideshow Theatre, Theatre Festival
