Review: The Golden Dragon (Sideshow Theatre)

By Chicagotheaterbeat @chitheaterbeat

  
  
The Golden Dragon

Written by Roland Schimmelpfennig
Translated by David Tushingham  
Directed by Jonathan L. Green and Marti Lyons
R. Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln (map)
thru Feb 23  |  tickets: $20-$25   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets 
  
  
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A unique but unsatisfying feast

     

  

Sideshow Theatre presents

  

The Golden Dragon

Review by Katy Walsh 

In 2012, Sideshow produced their Jeff Award-winning Idomeneus.  That innovative, critically-acclaimed play was written by Roland Schimmelpfenning. In The Golden Dragon, Sideshow produces another of Schimmelpfenning’s work.  This one is centered in a restaurant.  The five member ensemble, Matt Fletcher, David Lawrence Hamilton, Daria Harper, Deanna Myers and Noah Sullivan, are the kitchen help.  They also play the wait staff, customers and neighbors. Under the direction of Jonathan L. Green and Marti Lyons, the ensemble morph into nearly twenty different characters.  They effectively transition between cultures, ages, and genders. 

The acting is good; the idea interesting.  The script, however, is convoluted.  Schimmelpfenning uses multiple monologues to narrate the plethora of storylines.  It’s challenging to follow.  Stories are broken up by a return to the hectic kitchen staff.  In one scene, we are concentrating on a relationship between an old man and a girl.  Before we figure it out, we are back in the kitchen with an ongoing, and fairly irritating, shtick involving the new guy’s rotten tooth.  The wailing gets a little much and unresolved as we move out to the restaurant to meet two flight attendants.  The back and forth is both quick and tedious.

Schimmelpfenning has penned a quirky tale with some fascinating folks.  It’s a rapidly-paced 65 minutes.  Normally, I applaud a riveting, abstract movement.  This one is more confusing than pithy.  The only thing completely clear are the food orders.  The fanciful narratives and puzzling dialogues aren’t as concise as the server calling out the Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese menu options.  I definitely know what they are eating onstage.  I’m just never certain what I’m consuming offstage. 

The story itself has community anchored in the neighborhood restaurant.  The idea of globalization connects back to immigrant and cultural roots.  These broader chunks of meat are decipherable.  The rest of the play is fast food, chop suey.  I’m not sure what all is in it.  

The Golden Dragon serves a unique but unsatisfying feast.

  

Rating: ★★½

  

  

The Golden Dragon continues through February 23rd at Victory Garden’s Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm.  Tickets are $20-$25, and are available by phone (773-871-3000) or online through VictoryGardens.org (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at SideshowTheatre.org.  (Running time: 65 minutes, no intermission)

Photos by Jonathan L. Green 

     

artists

cast

Matt Fletcher (Young Man), David Lawrence Hamilton (Man), Daria Harper (Woman over 60), Deanna Myers (Young Woman), Noah Sullivan (Man over 60).

behind the scenes

Jonathan L. Green (co-director, photos), Marti Lyons (co-director), William Boles (scenic design), Kristin DeiTos (costume design), John Kelly (lighting design), Kate Hardiman (asst. lighting design), Christopher M. LaPorte (sound design, original music), Arianna Soloway (props coordinator), Ryan Milosevich (technical director), Will Dean (master electrician), Andrew Holmquist (poster illustration), Alison McLeod, Brittany Parlor (stage managers), Aaron Shapiro (production manager).

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