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
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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.
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)
artists
cast
Mike Rogalski (performer)
behind the scenes
Megan Gallagher (stage manager), Josh Weckesser (lighting), David Pierczynski (sound)
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