Darja is an all-American woman. She may be a Polish immigrant, escaping the wars and politics of her native land. But she has all the problems of her born-in-the-USA sisters. She loses her job—her main job as a factory worker, which she supplements by cleaning houses. She worries about her son, whether he’s a teenager or a young adult. She knows her partner has been cheating on her with other women. And she absolutely wants a car so she won’t have to wait for the bus—at a desolate roadside bus stop somewhere in New Jersey.
Ironbound by Martyna Majok is Darja’s story, directed by Georgette Verdin, now on stage at Raven Theatre. It’s also a story of how a first generation of immigrants makes it in its new world.
The four-person cast performs Majok’s poignant and sometimes comic story at that roadside bus stop. (Set design by Lindsey Mummert, construction by the Northlight Scene Shop.)
Despite everything, Darja is smart and enterprising and manages to find pleasure and humor in her difficult life. Lucy Carapetyan (Nice Girl, First Love Is the Revolution) is a convincing Darja as we meet her at several points in her life; her performance is heartbreaking and she carries it off without benefit of makeup or glamorous costuming. (Costume design by Steph Taylor.)
We meet Darja when she’s 42 and in a tempestuous relationship with Tommy (Richie Villafuerte).She’s tired of talking about love or feelings; she just wants to talk money. They argue about his infidelity (which Darja keeps track of like a CPA) and about their future—together or separate.
Then it’s two decades earlier and new immigrants Darja and Maks (Nate Santana) are playful and in love. Maks is ambitious and tries to bring Darja along in his plan to move to Chicago. That’s when we learn that Darja is pregnant.
At another time, Darja, bruised from an apparent beating, goes to sleep on the ground at the bus stop and is woken by teenaged Vic (Glenn Obrero in a funny, high-energy performance), who seriously tries to help Darja. (When he invites her to eat with him at a diner, she says “What these places are?” and Vic responds, “What? You live in Jersey, right? And you never been to a diner?”)
In all her scenes with Tommy (apparently set in 2014), Darja is worried about her son Aleks, who needs help and maybe rehab. Tommy sweetly proposes marriage to Darja in their final scene together.
Director Verdin does a superb job of keeping the action brisk and the mood from degenerating into tragedy even as it explores issues such as immigration, domestic violence, and the working poor. As she says in her program message, “We get to experience these issues through the lens of a really badass, funny, practical woman who refuses to relinquish her agency despite being squeezed by a system designed to keep women and other marginalized people firmly in place at the bottom of the proverbial ladder.”
The five-scene play proceeds with time shifts to past, present and in between, but we often are not sure what year it is or where Darja is in her life. Playwright Majok sets the timing for each scene in her script but there’s no scene information in the printed program, although there is in the virtual program.
Christopher Kriz is responsible for the original music and sound design, which maintains the play’s tone between scenes. Eric Watkins is lighting designer. Elise Kauzlaric is dialect coach and Julie Jachym is Polish language consultant. Stage manager is Lauren Peters.
Ironbound continues at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., through October 27. Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission. Tickets ae $45 (with some discounts available) for performances Thursday-Sunday.
For more information on this and other plays, see theatreinchicago.com.
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