In Quietness at A Red Orchid Theatre asks a lot of its audience, especially an urban liberal (most likely) audience. The play pits feminism against fundamentalist religion. It asks us to believe that a successful Manhattan consulting executive would leave her lucrative job and follow her cheating husband to a Texas seminary. Worst of all, it expects us to believe that woman would also allow herself to be enrolled in the seminary’s Homemaking House, where she will learn how to be a pastor’s quiet, obedient spouse.
The script by Anna Ouyang Moench (Man of God, Mothers) is crisply directed by ensemble member dado (The Malignant Ampersands). Brittany Burch plays Max, the smart and smartly dressed management consultant; Joe Edward Metcalfe plays Paul, her husband, who found God and his girlfriend at a bible-study group while Max was traveling for work. The plot point that makes no sense happens when, after Paul and Max fight over his affair, the next scene has Paul in seminary and Max enrolled in the Homemaking House. There’s no transition or explanation for that surprising move.
Despite some problems with the plot structure, the script turns out to provide a fair amount of comedy, The comic pillars of the show are two Texas characters. Beth (Alexandra Chopson), a bible-thumping conservative young woman and Max’s roommate at the Homemaking House, regularly quotes biblical passages that make a feminist’s straight hair curl: the husband is the leader of the family and the wife owes him submission and full support. Red Orchid artistic director Kirsten Fitzgerald (Swing State) gives a hilarious performance as Terri, the doyenne of the Homemaking House and fan of Ikea shopping.
The ensemble’s performances in In Quietness are excellent. Burch and Metcalfe both give fine performances, although there doesn’t seems to be any real chemistry between them. Adam Shalzi, who played quite a different role in Raven Theatre’s Right to Be Forgotten, gets to show his comic chops in his cameo role as Dusty, Beth’s fiancé.
Grant Sabin’s scenic design makes practical use of the small Red Orchid playing space. The design is minimal, with an essential door and doorbell, and an ancillary space that works for Terri’s Ikea shopping trip. Lighting design by Heather Gilbert is an important element because dark and light frequently punctuate plot and mood changes. Sound design is by Jeffrey Levin with costumes by Kotryna Hilko. Lauren Lassus is stage manager.
In case we were to wonder if there really is a true religious component to this play, the title tells us something. It’s part of a New Testament quote, which Moench provides to open her script, from First Timothy 2:11: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.”
When Paul visits the Homemaking House, Terri asks him about his religious background. He tells her he was raised a Lutheran: Terri refers to that as “Christianity Light.” (That struck home for me, since I was raised Lutheran too—and gave it up when I left home for college. It was interesting to learn that these fundamentalists consider Lutheranism to be Christianity Light, rather than the real thing.)
In Quietness at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., has been extended through March 10. Tickets are $35-$45 for performances Thursday-Sunday. Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission.
For more information on this and other plays, see theatreinchicago.com.
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