First Floor Theater brings something strange but not altogether original with its debut of Evanston Salt Costs Rising, written by Succession writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Will Arbery and directed by Micah Figueroa. The show explores three surreal winters in the lives of Peter (Jelani West) and Basil (Dano Duran), Evanston’s lonely salt truck drivers. They pass the time telling jokes and stories, but something isn’t right. The snow keeps rising, as does the cost of salt. Dread is never far, and everything might collapse when their neurotic boss Maiworm (Ashley Neal) considers a greener salting technology.
The set is simple but effective. An alley stage positions a break room on one end and a bedroom on the other. Connecting the two is a stretch of road upon which West and Duran mime-drive their vehicle. Scenic designer Spencer Donovan creates a bleak setting for our characters to unravel, and lighting designer Sid Branca plays a creative role in the show’s psychological drama as well. There’s a lot of harsh lighting and moments of flashing intensity, which aren’t necessarily the most original ways to portray broken psyches but they work nonetheless.
Basil and Peter are a hellish odd couple, not unlike Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon. In this world we accept that the characters communicate more personally and ridiculously than they would in reality. Peter has vague but urgent family issues, he talks about suicide all the time, and West plays him like someone losing a battle against his own anxiety.
Peter is beyond quiet desperation. His is a very loud case. He’s shaky and confused behind the wheel, quick to anger and full of despair. It’s a commanding performance, and the opposite of Duran as Basil. While Peter is obsessive and extreme, Basil is even-tempered and silly. Duran gives the character a sort of foolish wisdom. He smiles constantly and seems more acquainted with the dread everyone else only begins to understand.
It’s a great, affectless performance, kind of like a Wes Anderson character, but it stands in stark contrast to West’s Peter, who seems more like something out of a William S. Burroughs novel. The disparity between the performances, that they seem to belong in different stories, highlights the show’s primary problem. It borrows too heavily from its influences, so you’re left with a mishmash of familiar ideas.
Watching the show, I was reminded often of other, admittedly better, artists whom Arbery no doubt channeled. The jumbled, random conversations beckon back to Beckett; the grotesque images and feigned friendliness reminds one of David Lynch; obsession with niche information seems Pynchonian; and the character Jane Jr. (Jacinda Ratcliffe) owes a lot to Yorgos Lanthimos.
Borrowing from these macabre sources, the play provokes the pervasive dread it wants so badly to communicate. “There’s something under everything that wants us dead,” is the show’s oft-repeated line. After noticing all these influences, however, we must ask ourselves: can we appreciate surrealist work if it’s a lot like other surrealist pieces?
We revere artists like Lynch and Dali not just because their art is cool, but because it presents a perspective entirely unique to themselves. They are originals, that’s the point. Any artist dabbling in surrealist work, if they want to be true to the greats, should run away from their influences as fast as possible. Otherwise the show becomes a pastiche or parody and often pales in comparison to the original. That is the situation with Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, which assumes that by replicating other respected artists it can be held at a similar standard.
Adding to the problem, this combination of ideas makes for a tonally awkward production. Everyone seems like a walk-on from a different play. Even the other lead Maiworm (Ashley Neal) is a different species from the drivers. There is no central vision guiding the play. The characters' odd behaviors and idiosyncrasies become more like jokes than the building blocks for understanding unique ideas.
But maybe none of this matters. For some the similarities will be a positive, that the show pleasantly harkens to much-loved works. And while the performances don’t tonally match, each is impressive on its own. It’s an entertaining show and impossible to predict. It’s a fine day at the theater, though its artistic borrowing may ruffle feathers.
Evanston Salt Costs Rising by First Floor Theater continues at the Den Theater, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chi, 60622 thru June 14. Running time is 100 minutes with no intermission. Ticket prices are $10-$35.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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