Review: Four Quartets (Mirovelle Partners at Provision Theater)

  
  
Four Quartets

Written by T.S. Eliot  
Performed by Mike Rogalski
at Provision Theater, 1001 W. Roosevelt (map)
thru Oct 20  |  tickets: $15-$20   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets  
  
   Read review
  

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Self-indulgent theater at its worst

Mirovelle Partners LLC presents

Four Quartets

Review by Patrick Dyer

There’s good theater and there’s bad theater. Then, there’s self-indulgent theater: the kind of theater that exists only because the people working on it are interested in bringing a project to life for the sake of bringing the project to life without any regard to how audiences might react to it. And sadly, this is the case with Mirovelle Partners’ production of a stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s The Four Quartets.

The Four Quartets is a collection of four poems dealing with the relationship between time and humanity: “Burnt Norton,” “East Coker,” “The Dry Salvages,” and “Little Gidding.” They each explore how time changes us, how we react to it, how we can never escape its eluding grasp, etc. In this adaptation, Mike Rogalski stands alone on the stage with only five white boxes and a simple backdrop to recite T.S. Eliot’s poetry straight from the page. And here’s the main problem: it’s not really an adaptation of Eliot’s work. It’s just Rogalski reciting the text. Literally, that’s it. And while Eliot’s poetry is of course evocative and beautifully meditative, Rogalski has no interest in really breathing any theatrical life into this work. The Four Quartets doesn’t have a clear narrative or even definable characters to begin with, so there has to be much more creative effort to bring out the emotional poignancy of Eliot’s language onto the stage.

Rogalski obviously has a strong personal connection with these poems, but he doesn’t know what to do with it on the stage. He simply enters at the start of each poem, recites, exits, and re-enters to start the next poem. He emotes with no motivation and moves about with no direction as Eliot’s words are presented in a lifeless manner. It’s not that bringing these poems to theatrical life is impossible; it’s that this interpretation is the theatrical equivalent of listening to an audiobook of The Four Quartets. And if I can go to my local library and listen to the audiobook for free, why should I pay to see an actor simply recite it on a stage?

Rogalski either needs to completely re-work this stage adaptation by re-working the script or bringing in an actual director to work in more dramatic action and character. Until then, this will just be an excuse for Rogalski to say Eliot’s poetry, making for a very uninteresting and boring night at the theater. My advice: read Eliot’s poetry at your local library. I guarantee it will be much more interesting than what this production has to offer. And it’s free.

Rating: ★

Four Quartets continues through October 20th at Provision Theater, 1001 W. Roosevelt (map), with performances Thursdays and Sundays at 7:30pm (extra performance on Saturday, October 5th).  Tickets are $15-$20, and are available by phone (312-455-0006) or online through OvationTix.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at FourQuartetsonstage.net.  (Running time: 75 minutes, NO intermission)

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artists

cast

Mike Rogalski (performer)

behind the scenes

Megan Gallagher (stage manager), Josh Weckesser (lighting), David Pierczynski (sound)

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