I Wish to Apologize
to the People of Illinois
Written and Directed by Tim Touhy
and Andrew Gallant
Flat Iron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee (map)
thru Dec 8 | tickets: $20 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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Story ripped from the headlines feels like first draft
The Agency Theater Collective presents
I Wish To Apologize
to the People of Illinois
Review by John Olson
Among people convicted for Illinois scandals, Stuart Levine is probably lesser-known than Rod Blagojevich, Tony Rezko or Eddie Vrdolyak, but after he was indicted on felony charges, he turned government witness and was instrumental in bringing them all down. A Chicagoan who became an expert in the art of getting himself placed on those state boards where he could influence the awarding of lucrative contracts in exchange for hefty kick-backs, he had a general skill of separating people from their money in all sorts of ways. His agreement to testify for the prosecution shed light into Illinois’ “pay-to-play” bribery scandals and brought down the biggest of its alleged key players. His cooperation was so extensive that federal prosecutors pleaded for leniency at his sentencing hearings for his convictions on money laundering and mail fraud charges. Newspaper accounts quote U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve as saying she believed Levine was a changed man, and issued a 5-1/2 year sentence – below sentencing guidelines. The play asks whether Levine – who began serving his sentence this past
Co-writers Andrew Gallant and Tim Touhy have taken on the worthy challenge of examining this man’s story and, indeed, the whole culture of corruption in Illinois government that so many of us have come to expect, if not accept. Their world premiere play I Wish to Apologize to the People of Illinois also makes the case that the corruption scandals have had an impact on the community beyond what we might imagine. The authors contend that government corruption is more than just games played by power brokers and rich people who don’t touch our lives; that it degrades the moral fiber of the community as a whole. They’ve written an ambitious script, but they haven’t succeeded in pulling these two related themes into one cohesive play.
Their exploration of Levine (Patrick A. Burch) is told largely through narration, by a nameless old-school street-smart investigative reporter (Sean Higgins), as well as through the questioning of Levine in court by a prosecutor (Jamie Birkner). Levine responds to the prosecutor’s questions in monosyllables with an expressionless face, giving us few clues as to what he might be thinking. Touhy (a former communications director for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office) and Gallant take their words for these scenes from public records and don’t attempt to speculate on Levine’s motivations. If he had an epiphany that led to his cooperation with the feds to such an extent, we don’t see it. Instead, the authors spend time explaining to us the nature of the complicated schemes and crimes Levine and others were accused of committing – complicated plots that are a lot to absorb in the context of a play. These scenes are spiced up a bit by the appearance of former Chicago Alderman Edward (“Fast Eddie”) Vrdolyak (James Munson) – the slick and corrupt but charming pol who served on the City Council in the ’70s and ‘80s, but for the most part they are dry recitals of facts.
After the federal investigation reached Levine and ended his career of scams, he took a job at a suburban shopping mall kiosk. The writers use this fact as the basis for a fictional subplot concerning an Oak Park teenager (Jack Schultz) who works with Levine. The boy, Will, a good kid about to enter college is visited at the mall by his cousin Johnny (Cody Lucas), a wannabe filmmaker living with his alcoholic mom. Johnny entreats Will to help him with a small-time felonious credit card scam. There’s a connection between Johnny’s plot and Levine that the writers use to suggest that corruption and immorality can spread like an epidemic. In contrast to the documentary-style scenes involving the investigation and trial of Levine, the scenes with the co-worker Will and Johnny are realistic, dialogue-driven and frequently funny. It seems the writers felt freer to create real characters for imagined people than they do for the real life personages in the script. The play is much more engaging when Will and Johnny are on stage, but so much so that the scenes seem to come from a different play altogether.
It’s often argued that writers shouldn’t direct their own plays and that may be the case here, as the mounting of Gallant and Touhy’s script is rough. Transitions between scenes are sometimes awkwardly executed, the music overpowers dialogue and there are video projections that at best add little at other times are just confusing.
There are some bright spots in the uneven cast which includes some new and returning faces to the Chicago theater community. Best of all is the very watchable Cody Lucas as the cousin who aspires to be the next Quentin Tarantino. Lucas, a recent transplant from Texas, is making his first Chicago stage appearance and he has the nervous energy of a James Franco and the voice of Joe Pesci. While Lucas has the benefit of being assigned to the most fleshed our role in the script, he fully commits to it and makes Johnny a funny/sad small-time loser. Lucas is still rough around the edges but shows a lot of potential and is someone to watch as he further develops his abilities on the Chicago stages. Sean Higgins, who program notes say has returned to the community after a 16-year absence, gives a commanding presence as the Reporter. As Levine, Patrick A. Burch is pretty much limited by the script until scenes late in the play between Levine and Will, when Burch shows Levine to be chastened, facing and yet accepting his upcoming prison sentence. James Munson does a nice job as Eddie Vrdolyak, though he doesn’t fully capture the contradictory charm and charisma of the figure I remember from his many appearances in the news back in the 1980’s when he fought the “Council Wars” against Mayor Harold Washington.
With all its intriguing moral questions for our city, this is an admirable effort and one that ought to be of interest to those involved or just interested in the rough and tumble scene of Chicago politics. It’s very much a first draft, though, and a schizophrenic one that might benefit from being ripped into two separate plays, maybe with the help of some fresh eyes.
Rating: ★★
I Wish to Apologize… continues through December 8th at Collaboraction’s Pentagon Theatre, Flat Iron Arts Building, 1579 N. Milwaukee (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm. Tickets are $20, and are available by phone (773-490-5265) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at WeAreTheAgency.org. (Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Bill Richert
artists
cast
Billy Baraw (Agent Brand), Patrick A. Burch (Stuart Levine), Jamie Birkner (The Prosecutor), Iymen Chehade (Tony Rezko), Cody Lucas (Johnny), Sean Higgins (Reporter), James Munson (Edward Vrdolyak), Jack Schultz (Will).
behind the scenes
Andrew Gallant (director, co-writer), Tim Touhy (assistant director, co-writer), Ashleigh Bowers (sound designer), Mari Deoleo (stage manager), Cecilia Falter (production manager), Brian Foster (assistant stage manager), Ellie Humphreys (lighting designer), Kate Jacobsen (costume designer), Melanie Lewis (set designer), Anson “Huck” Poe (media designer), Adam Schulmerich (technical director), Bill Richert (photos).
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