Strawdog’s The Night Season Entertains With Irish Charm and Literary References
Patrick: Sharper than a serpent’s tooth. Do you know where that is from, John? John: King Lear. Patrick: He had three daughters too, didn’t he? I feel for him. No wonder he went fucking mad. And that was without the mother-in-law.As if to cement the King Lear thing, we have a scene with Judith and Patrick, who’ve been a bit estranged (not over estate matters), meeting to drink at Patrick’s favorite bar. Judith at first refuses, then keeps up with Patrick and they both get roaring drunk. Later, they’re outside looking at the sky and Judith says she can’t walk but wants to see her lover/ex-lover Gary (Michael Reyes). Patrick takes her there, carrying his drunken daughter on his back. Like Lear carrying the corpse of his darling Cordelia over the moors. Lenkiewicz draws Judith and Rose, the two oldest sisters, as women with fierce passions. And Turner and Petro fulfill those roles with intensity. Vann is also strong as the bereaved husband and loving father. Rose to John after their lovemaking: “It’s all been a bit intense, you know? Did you ever feel that you were waiting for something and when it happened you couldn’t handle it? It was too immense, too strange, or I don’t know what.” Roberts is a bit laconic and understated as the American actor, brought in to play the Irish poet/hero. (There’s no mention of how that would have ticked off the Irish, just as Americans get annoyed at Brits and Australians playing American cultural heroes. Like Tom Hiddleston playing Hank Williams in the 2015 film, I Saw the Light. And Superman, Batman and Spider Man, all played recently by Brits.) Mike Mroch's set design puts several different bedrooms, pubs and sitting rooms all in one open space, punctuated by Claire Chrzan's lighting design as scenes change. Heath Hays' sound design modulates Lily's favorite songs quietly. Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a British playwright and author of many works, including Her Naked Skin, which explored the suffragette movement. She co-wrote the film Ida, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the BAFTA and other film festival awards in 2015. The Night Season is the end of Strawdog’s 29th season. Next season they’ll be in their new venue at 1802 W. Berenice, formerly home to the late Signal Ensemble Theater. Strawdog’s former home in the 3800 block on Broadway (the “eagles building”) is being demolished and turned into an apartment building. The Night Season by Strawdog Theatre Company continues at the Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard St., through June 24. Tickets are $30 for performances Thursday-Sunday.
Nancy S Bishop
Nancy S. Bishop is publisher and Stages editor of Third Coast Review. She’s a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and a 2014 Fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. You can read her personal writing on pop culture at nancybishopsjournal.com, and follow her on Twitter @nsbishop. She also writes about film, books, art, architecture and design.