Review: Exit Strategy (Jackalope Theatre)

  
  
Exit Strategy

Written by Ike Holter  
Directed by Gus Menary
Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway (map)
thru June 29  |  tickets: $5-$15   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets 
  
  
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   Extended through June 29th!

Tense, darkly-funny world premiere is timely as ever

Jackalope Theatre presents

Exit Strategy

Review by Kat Hey

Exit Strategy premieres at a time in Chicago when tensions are at an all time high over the public school system. Playwright Ike Holter gives a balanced view of all sides of the controversy of closing schools that are underperforming. The majority of those schools happen to be in neighborhoods that are well below the poverty line and overwhelmingly not white.

The story bolts out of the gate with a heated discussion between Pam (Barbara Figgins), who is a veteran English teacher, and Ricky (Patrick Whalen), the clueless and beleaguered vice principal. Figgins is all vitriol and sarcasm as the sharp but bitter teacher who knows what is coming when she is asked to Ricky’s office. Whalen is fantastic as the squirrelly and nervous suit, burdened with the job of lowering the boom on careers and the future of some unfortunate children. Pam lets Ricky know that she has a contingency plan and doesn’t need to hear the party line. She leaves Ricky in embarrassed silence and shoots herself in the next office.

Pam’s act catapults the rest of the school year into a fight between the teachers and administration. An even deeper divide is revealed between the teachers themselves as they decide to fight or retreat. Arnold (H.B. Ward) is the senior faculty member and was a great friend of Pam. Ward is superb as the recovering alcoholic thrown into an emotional morass after Pam’s suicide. Ward has a gruff and weary manner that is perfect for the role. When he bursts into a fit of rage it is a wonder to behold; frightening and spellbinding at once.

Daniel Martinez gives a fresh performance as Luce, the hip teacher who also happens to be Ricky’s partner outside the school walls. Martinez has a deft comic touch with a good dose of angst.

Lucy Sandy plays the role of Sadie, the teacher who wants to be respected and tries to hold the hard line. Sandy has a steady presence with simmering emotion beneath the surface in an excellent performance.  Paloma Nozicka plays the vivacious Jania who has been through school closings before and does not want to get involved trying to fight for this school. Nozicka has some of the funniest lines in the play and keeps them from running into the “wacky Latina” stereotype. A particularly funny bit is done around Jania’s lunch that is apparently pungent. The cast reaction is priceless.

Rounding out the cast is Jerry McKinnon as Donnie, the student leader who goes out on a limb to save his school. McKinnon gives an explosive performance as the kid with exceptional drive who manages to make it through the gang-infested neighborhood and thrive in school. Donnie hijacks the school website and turns it into a crowd funding site to save the school. Ricky is put in the position of suspending or expelling Donnie, and it turns into a crystallizing moment. McKinnon is sharp as he makes the case for saving his school. His character has made it this far and will not allow the administration or the teachers look away as another school is bulldozed.

Holter’s script has naturalistic language that is jolting and provocative. There is a touch of magical realism with the conversation between Arnold and Pam. Is she an apparition or still so heavy in his memory that she is even more real? Gus Menary’s direction is sharp and flows beautifully. The external scenes are viewed through the reactions of the actors.

There is no glossing over the reality of Chicago’s hijacked school system. The children are the ones held hostage in a broken system. The teachers who have made a life trying to educate the future of America are in a thankless and futile job that has to be a vocation and avocation. Holter places blame on both the union and the administration. No one is unscathed in the political back-and-forth that makes a debacle of the children’s future. It is shocking to hear that things taken for granted, such as toilet paper being rationed out. The schools are physically crumbling and rodent infested. It is a classic Chicago move to drive down the value in one area until deep pockets can pay the lowest price to make it palatable for more privileged parents. I won’t reveal the outcome because I want you to go and see it. (However, I will give you a hint: read the news and follow the money.)

I highly recommend Exit Strategy. It is a tense and darkly funny 100 minutes that maybe will reveal why “Johnny can’t read”.

Rating: ★★★½

Exit Strategy continues through June 15 June 29th at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm.  Tickets are $5-$15.  More info at JackalopeTheatre.org.  (Running time: 100 minutes, no intermission)

Photos by Ryan Bourque 

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artists

cast

Patrick Whalen (Ricky), Daniel Martinez (Luce), H.B. Ward (Arnold), Lucy Sandy (Sadie), Barbara Figgins (Pam), Paloma Nozicka (Jania), Jerry McKinnon (Donnie)

behind the scenes

Gus Menary (director), John Holt (scenic design), Claire Sangster (lighting design), Delia Ridenour (costume design), Thomas Dixon (sound design), Mel Gill (props design), Jen Dorman (graphic design), Joshua Altman (dramaturgy), Allison Raynes (production stage manager), Mikayla Pasquale (assistant stage manager), Ryan Bourque (fight choreographer, photos), Ian Olsen (technical director), Elana Boulos (casting director), AJ Ware (producer)

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