Review: The Night Season (Strawdog Theatre)

Well-staged production is overly-long, overly maudlin

Review by Lauren Whalen

According to its website, the theme of Strawdog Theatre Company's 29th season is "Lives in exile." Their season premiere, Distance, featured an elderly Southern woman with dementia, and was followed by Shakespeare's Cymbeline, a tale of wrongful banishment. Strawdog closes 2016-17 with The Night Season , playwright and screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz's fable of a dysfunctional Irish family and the English actor who finds himself smack in the middle. The Night Season is marketed as a "skewed romantic comedy," but even sad, quiet laughs were few and far between. Clocking in at nearly three hours, The Night Season features excellent in-the-round staging by director and a couple of fairly interesting relationships, but not much else.

The Kennedy family live together in a tiny Irish town - well, except for the mother who left years ago. Three adult sisters, their senile grandmother (Janice O'Neill) and their alcoholic father (Jamie Vann) putter around their cottage without much money or luck. When a film crew comes through to film a biopic of W.B. Yeats in the famous poet's hometown, the Kennedys offer to put up lead actor John Eastman (John Henry Roberts). Eastman immediately falls into bed with spinster sister Rose (Michaela Petro) and the misadventures begin.

Lenkiewicz's core concept is a fine one for romantic comedy: dysfunctional family, handsome stranger, lots of misunderstandings, encounters in pubs, and a wacky old woman who likes records and booze. The reality is much more somber: a lot of angst and hand-wringing, allusions to past abuse and neglect, and enough arguing about drinking to drive even the audience members to the nearest bar. None of this drama is a bad thing, but the main issue with The Night Season is Lenkiewicz's ability (or inability) to know when to say when. There are so many conflicts that some characters (like the youngest Kennedy sister) go largely undeveloped, potentially compelling moments are referred to rather than seen, and late in the second act, it's clear that Lenkiewicz has written herself into a corner. Not to mention that every Irish stereotype known to humankind is on full, unapologetic display, with little to no nuance apparent.

Strawdog's production contains a few redeeming features: Mike Mroch creates a lovely, realistic set that evokes several different locations. Director Green has chosen in-the-round staging, an excellent choice for the Factory Theater space, and makes strong, sensible choices that make for smooth transitions and slightly lessens the dragging angst of the source material. Apart from O'Neill, who seemingly plays the same character as she did in Distance, only with a different dialect, the cast is talented and cohesive, particularly Roberts and Petro, whose relationship is complex and truthful.

The Night Season is disappointing in many ways. Lenkiewicz's stock characters, predictable plot and maudlin nature make for an incredibly long afternoon or evening, and the details of the story are difficult to recall even a short time later. If the playwright had inserted more humor (light or dark), characterization and even a little bit of impulsiveness, The Night Season could have been a more authentic, human experience.

The Night Season continues through June 24th at Factory Theater, 1623 W.. Howard (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 4pm. Tickets are $30, and are available by phone (866-811-4111) or through OvationTix.com (check for half-price tickets at ). More info at Strawdog.org. (Running time: 2 hours 45 minutes, includes an intermission. Note: contains adult situations and partial nudity)

Stella Martin (Maud Kennedy), Janice O'Neill (Lily O'Hanlon), Michaela Petro (Rose Kennedy), Michael Reyes (Gary Malone), John Henry Roberts (John Eastman), Justine C. Turner (Judith Kennedy), (Patrick Kennedy)

behind the scenes

(director), Brittany Dee Bodley (costume design), (sound design, photos), (set design), Ben Chang (dramaturg), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Sammi Grant (dialect coach), Holly McCauley (props design), Ellen Willett (produciton manager), Emily Ioppolo (stage manager), Aliza Feder (asst. director), Michael Trudeau (technical director), Caitie Noller (asst. stage manager), (master electrician)

Tags: 17-0542, Aliza Feder, Ben Chang, Brittany Dee Bodley, Caitie Noller, Chicago Theater, Claire Chrzan, Ellen Willett, Elly Green, Emily Ioppolo, Eric Vigo, Factory Theater, Heath Hays, Holly McCauley, Jamie Vann, Janice O'Neill, John Henry Roberts, Justine C. Turner, Lauren Whalen, Michael Reyes, Michael Trudeau, Michaela Petro, Mike Mroch, post, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Sammi Grant, Stella Martin, Strawdog Theatre

Category: 2017 Reviews, Factory Theater, Lauren Whalen, Strawdog Theatre