Review: In A Little World Of Our Own (Irish Theatre of Chicago)

A tepid mess of a non-starter

Nobody sets out to put on a gawdawful show, or so the old adage insists. But sometimes that just seems highly improbable. So it is with Irish Theatre of Chicago's In a Little World of Our Own , playwright Gary Mitchell's tepid mess of a non-starter.

It's hard to discern where the biggest trouble lies in a so-called "psychological thriller" that is actually neither thrilling nor probes human psychology with any special insight. Mitchell's script is one of those preposterous ramblers where if even one character did one thing that made sense at any point in the action, the plot would collapse. And giving Mitchell credit for creating actual characters is stretching things. What we have here are non-dimensional entities who shout and and move around a fair amount, but when push-comes-to-gunshot, fail to actually say or do anything that is either A) credible or B) interesting.

Directed by Jeri Frederickson, In a Little World of Our Own is essentially a cheap riff on "Of Mice and Men," centering on a mentally disabled young man, his protective brother and a brutally beaten young woman. Set in Belfast, the plot follows a trio of brothers who find themselves in trouble after the local "slut" turns up horrifically brutalized. Mitchell sets the scene by having the brothers reference Catholics with something akin to derision, but beyond those asides, the epic, endlessly fascinating and sorrow-steeped backdrop of The Troubles is non-existent.

Ray (), who bears an uncanny resemblance to Colin Farrell, is an angry young man whose smoldering rage has all the subtlety of a sandwich board that reads "I Am Smoldering and Rage-y." Ray looks out for his disabled brother Richard (Gage Wallace), teaching him card tricks and taking him to parties. Gary (Jeff Duhigg) is the last brother we meet. He's engaged to the pious Deborah (Jodi Kingsley), a young woman who improbably turns to Jesus rather than the cops when things get dicey and who - despite seeming utterly rational - espouses the belief that that Jesus can fix murder.

Finally, there's Walter (Robert Kauzlaric), a family friend whose relationship to the brothers is never quite clear. Like Deborah, he seems like all his marbles are intact for most of the 90-minute production. Then, suddenly, they are not. The switch is so sudden and unlikely you'd be excused for wondering whether Walter's evil twin had come on the scene. But Walter and Deborah aren't the only ones with credibility issues.

In a Little World of Our Own is believable enough for the first 40 or so minutes. But once the rape takes place (off stage), we've entered the world of eyeballs-stuck-in-your-cranium-from-rolling-them-so-hard levels of dubiousness.

At one point, Mitchell appears to be drawing a laborious parallel between Isaac and Abraham and Ray and Richard. It's an attempt that is so ridiculous, it injects unintended humor into the proceedings. Also from the Department of Unintended Humor: Late in the final scene, someone turns up shot (Or maybe stabbed. Or maybe his appendix burst. Who can say? ), and hemorrhaging enough blood to make imminent death obvious. That death is forestalled in order to give the character enough time to finish several lengthy monologues, plus make a few staggering circuits of the family's living room/kitchen area. It's a scene that makes Deborah's belief in miracles seem comically apt because, barring Divine Intervention, nobody with a wound like that could survive long enough to deliver all that dialogue, especially while standing up and perambulating about the room.

Long before the blood starts spilling, Mitchell introduces a gun into the story. Per the Law of Chekhov, you know the damn thing has to go off before you can go home. The inevitable shot takes forever to arrive. Well before the purportedly climactic bang, you may well be left wishing for the damn thing to go off already so you can leave the little world on stage and return to your own.

In a Little World of Our Own continues through April 10th at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm. Tickets are $26-$30 (students/seniors: $5 off), and are available by phone (866-811-4111) or online through OvationTix.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com ). More information at IrishTheatreOfChicago.org. (Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission)

behind the scenes

Jeri Frederickson (director), Merje Veski (scenic design), Elizabeth Shorrock (costume design), Smooch Medina (lighting design), Thomas Dixon (sound design) Ian Jerome (properties design), Margaret McCall (dramaturg), Jen Bukovsky (stage manager).

Tags: 16-0304, Catey Sullivan, Chicago Theater, Elizabeth Shorrock, Gage Wallace, Gary Mitchell, Ian Jerome, Irish Theatre of Chicago, Jeff Duhigg, Jen Bukovsky, Jeri Frederickson, Jodi Kingsley, Margaret McCall, Matthew Isler, Merje Veski, post, Robert Kauzlaric, Smooch Medina, The Den Theatre, Thomas Dixon

Category: 2016 Reviews, Catey Sullivan, Den Theatre, Irish Theatre Chicago