Love Thy Neighbor…
Till It Hurts
Written and Performed by Julie Ganey
Directed by Megan Shuchman
16th Street Theater, Berwyn (map)
thru July 14 | tickets: $18 | more info
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A nuanced, lyrical exploration of neighborhood life
16th Street Theater presents
Love Thy Neighbor….Till It Hurts
Review by J.H. Palmer
As part of the Words In Motion series at the 16th Street Theater, Julie Ganey is performing her one-woman show, Love Thy Neighbor…Till It Hurts, a piece that debuted last summer at Lifeline Theater’s Fillet of Solo festival. Ganey puts her storytelling and acting chops to use in this hour long piece structured in four acts: Duck In Hot Water; Good Fences Make Good Neighbors; Shitting on Your Dreams; and Takin’ It to the Street. If a one-hour spoken word piece in four acts sounds familiar to you, there’s a reason – Ganey created Love Thy Neighbor in response to a “This American Life” episode titled “Scenes from the Recession” in which Ira Glass tours Rogers Park and describes the shabby state of buildings that had been bought by developers in the hopes of luring an upscale clientele, only to sit vacant after the housing bubble burst.
Far from a revenge letter to Mr. Glass, Love They Neighbor is a lyrical exploration of home and place; Ganey lifts everyday experiences to the level of art, bringing the audience with her on the journey that she and her family have been on since they purchased a home in an often misunderstood neighborhood in 1999. Each act stands on its own, and together paints a portrait of a neighborhood that, with a few changes, could well describe any number in Chicago – or in another American city. In Act 1 we see Ganey as a newcomer struggling to make sense of the neighborhood she has moved into, Acts 2 and 3 bring us into the complexity of neighborhood life, and Act 4 cements Ganey’s sense of belonging without ending on a saccharine note.
The music of Mike Pryzgoda and Suzanne Osman adds an extra dimension to Ganey’s storytelling, bursting in at key moments to underscore the action. The props and staging are minimal: Ganey uses two window frames, a stool, and a small plant stand; the rest is all Ganey – with a slight change in tone of voice she intones the characters of her husband, her neighbors, her daughter, and kids in the neighborhood without overreaching or exaggerating.
This is a quiet piece, and in the intimate setting of the 16th Street Theater it feels as though Ganey is speaking directly to the audience members, as if they are part of the neighborhood she speaks of. In a manner of speaking they are – all of us come from somewhere, and all of us have stories about home. We tend not to think of domestic stories as particularly exciting, but what Ganey demonstrates most clearly in this show is that in our everyday moments can be extraordinary experiences, and that no neighborhood can be understood completely from the outside. It’s interesting to me that this show is playing in Berwyn, a place that is itself misunderstood and often ridiculed. It is a bit out of the way, but not impossible. There are a few more lawn ornaments than in my neighborhood, but it was definitely worth the trek.
Rating: ★★★½
Love Thy Neighbor…Till It Hurts continues through July 14th at 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street, Berwyn (map), with performances Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 5pm and 8pm. Tickets are $18, and are available online through PrintTixUSA.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at 16thStreetTheater.org. (Running time: 60 minutes without intermission)
