St. Nicholas
Written by Conor McPherson
Directed by Matthew Miller
Irish American Heritage Ctr, 4626 N. Knox (map)
thru Dec 18 | tickets: $17-$20 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
Read entire review
A reviewer reviews a reviewer
Seanachai Theatre and Shanghai Low Theatricals presents
St. Nicholas
Review by Katy Walsh
Once upon a time, I reviewed this show. I became obsessed with an actor. So, I crashed the cast party. I got so totally wasted that I passed out in the park. When I woke up, I stumbled into a house of vampires. Alright, so it didn’t really happen to ME but it’s someone’s story. Or is it?
Seanachai Theatre Company, in conjunction with Shanghai Low Theatricals, presents St. Nicholas. A theatre critic confesses the reality of his profession. He is a hack and a drunk. People fear him because he can ‘string words together.’ His reviews destroy! His wife, his children, his peers think he’s a bollocks. And he thinks they are all c#nts. One night, after phoning in a scathing review, he decides to get his drink on. The cast and crew arrive in the bar to celebrate. Attracted to an actor, he drunkenly joins their merriment. To get them to like him, he lies. He tells them he loved their show.
Award-winning Playwright Conor McPherson penned this ode to theatre critics as a one man show. Under the direction of Matthew Miller, Steve Pickering gives a riveting first person account of the soulless life of a critic. The show starts very unassuming. The stage is the unadorned bowels of a theatre. No *real* scenery. It’s just discarded fixtures and piles of production crap. Instead of “making an entrance”, an unassuming Pickering wanders on stage, sheds his coat, dims the light and chugs some water. He builds an immediate confidential bond. It’s very come-here-I’m-going-to tell-you-what-a-horrible-person-I-am intimate. Pickering delivers his caustic disclosure with bitter humility. His declarations are disturbingly funny. Going into the second act, there is a huge shift in storytelling. With the appearance of vampires, the account turns less personal and more phantasmagorical. The surreal elements change the engagement dynamic. I no longer feel that Pickering is confiding he’s been a bad boy. I feel he’s sharing an allegory of his character’s self-deconstruction. To reinforce that notion, Pickering carries around a notebook in the second half. This prop makes it seem like the first act was spontaneous and the second act contrived. It’s an interesting blend of a story within a story.
St. Nicholas fascinates me on many levels. As a “True Blood” fan, it doesn’t have the vampire shock value it would have had in its 1997 genesis. (I couldn’t help but wonder if Sookie knew about William’s house parties.) As a reviewer, it’s hilarious and disheartening to hear about a critic’s imperfections. The content speaks directly to me as a warning to what happens to reviewers who stray from the truth. As a lover of life imitating art, I did enjoy a drink in the bar after the show. The theatre company was there celebrating the opening. I exchanged a few pleasantries but did not join their party. Instead, I finished my wine and left. I went out into the dark, rainy night with the unsettling knowledge that reviewers attract vampires.
Rating: ★★★
St. Nicholas continues through December 18th at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox (map), with performances Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 5pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 8pm. Tickets are $17-$20, and are available by phone (866-811-4111) or online at OvationTix.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at Seanachi.org. (Running time: one house and forty-five minutes, which includes one intermission)
All photos by Michael Grant
