The North Star
Written by Anthony Ellison
Directed by Letitia Guillaud
Chemically Imbalanced Theater (map)
thru Oct 13 | tickets: $15 | more info
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A show about inspiration that lacks any semblance of it
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy presents
The North Star
Review by Clint May
It’s sad when the primary disparaging adjective for a production can be found in the name of the company itself, but Chemically Imbalanced Comedy’s premiere of The North Star is nothing if not…well…imbalanced. So off keel that it’s almost the only funny thing in this would-be dark comedy.
We eventually find out that Brooke is having an affair with a fellow grief counselee, Bruce (Sean Keith). Unlike her husband, Bruce doesn’t obfuscate his emotions, though they both talk in terms of ‘baggage’ and other counseling-friendly terms. When Brooke finally breaks and tells Gordon of the affair, the already rocky marriage is put on hiatus. Poor Isaac is thrust into the middle of a bidding war between his diametrically opposed parents. Things spiral out of control with increasing fervor as more and more truths about the past are revealed until it all crashes. Isaac gets all the inspiration for his budding songwriting career that he could ever need in his Robitussin-fueled delusions and broken family. It’s a decidedly Pyrrhic victory.
So back to that imbalance.
Rarely have I seen two styles pushing so hard at each on a single stage. Zang and Iliev play their mother and son as near to naturalistic as the script allows. At the same time, Keith and Monahan play the men in Brooke’s life as both broad and flat as sitcom characters. It’s a grating clash. Gordon is such a strange father with his uptight mannerisms that he comes off as a caricature against Brooke’s more heartbreakingly real pain. I imagine this was meant to demonstrate just how differently two people could retreat into emotional prisons, but the execution is so jarring any nuance is lost. There’s no sense of why each of them would behave so differently or any semblance of chemistry to keep them together, so their actions are inexplicable and unsympathetic. Isaac’s twisted relationship to his invisible brothers is explained too late in the game to be comprehensible, requiring a quick back-track of interpretation not seen since “The Sixth Sense.”
As a story, Playwright Anthony Ellison’s North Star is muddled and unfocused. It even invents a completely unnecessary technology to instigate the death of Bruce’s son. So much time is spent going down unnecessary paths and middling in the doldrums (and some rather bizarre ‘humor’) that Isaac’s story is completely lost. This should really be billed as Brooke’s story of choosing the wrong men. It’s all so strange—so cringe-worthy to behold.
It’s ironic that a show named for the greatest compass point in the sky would lose its direction so completely. If I had to guess, I’d say The North Star is about how tragedy can be a great source of inspiration. One can only exit wondering what weird events transpired to inspire this production. An unsatisfying denouement could leave any audience in a shell-shock of its own. Maybe someone will write a song about it, and this show will be redeemed.
Rating: ★
The North Star continues through October 13th at Chemically Imbalanced Theater, 1422 W. Irving Park (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8pm. Tickets are $15, and are available online through BrownPaperTickets.com or by phone at 800-838-3006 (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More info at CIComedy.com. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
artists
cast
Leslie Zang (Brooke), Martin Monahan (Gordon), Sean Keith (Bruce), Volen Iliev (Isaac), Drew Wancket (understudy)
behind the scenes
Letitia Guillaud (director); Linus Lee (asst. director); Nick Quinn (scenic, lighting); Sarah Borer (production manager, props); Carla Hamilton (costumes); Tanya Tweedy (stage manager)
12-0918
