Black Button Eyes’ new solo show, St. Nicholas, gives us a look at the life of a jaded theater critic, who may also become a vampire. (I’m sure there are plenty of theater people who would applaud this analogy, present writer excluded, of course.)
Kevin Webb is a Chicago theater veteran who dependably captures the magic of a stage production. Webb plays a man, a fine storyteller, who describes for us how he deserts job, family and Dublin to follow an ingenue and her theater company to London. There he meets William, a friendly vampire, and becomes his procurer. The 1997 play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson is directed by Ed Rutherford.
Webb gives a superb performance as the critic. He is animated and constantly in motion, never seated for very long. Sometimes he paces the front of the stage and makes eye contact with audience members as he tells his story. The stage is set with an armchair and small tables bearing books, a water pitcher, a whiskey bottle and glasses. The lighting is subtle and modulated to suit his mood. (Scenic design and props by Jeremiah Barr; lighting by Liz Cooper.)
As the play begins, our man (unnamed) gives us an overview of his life as a critic. He’s a journalist and “probably in the top five highest paid in the paper.” Over the next few minutes, he describes his creative abilities:
“I was blessed, or cursed, whichever, with the ability to string words together…. I was intelligent, but I had no real thoughts about things…. I had no ideas. No ideas for a story…. Nothing ever came. I could only write about what there was already. I was a hack. And I was drunk. I was at gallery openings, milling free glasses of wine. I was in the bar after the premiere of plays…. I walked out of plays ten minutes before the end…. I usually had reviews written before the show was finished.” Later he notes that he phoned in his review right after leaving the theater; he had written it on the back of his program.
And to be clear, those last two actions are verboten for any respectable theater critic. You don’t leave the play before it ends (no matter how bad it is). And you certainly don’t write it before the show ends. (Although you may be mulling over the level of your praise or critique.)
The play that instigates our man’s action is a production of Salome at the Abbey Theater. Helen, a lovely young woman who plays the lead, enthralls our writer. Even so, he gives the production a mixed review and phones it in from his car, then heads for a bar. There, he’s greeted by the play’s director, who really wants to know what our man thought of Salome. The critic lamely tells him “Well, I think it's one of the best shows I've seen in years and anybody who knows what's what would be a fool to miss it." And that’s how the party got going, he says. The cast was fawning over him and he quite enjoyed it.
He can’t forget Helen and the grace of her movements as Salome. He attends the final performance at the Abbey and then decides to follow the troupe to London, where the play will have a two-week run, rather than the four it might have had with better reviews.
He buys a tweed fedora to hide his identity and follows the cast on the Tube after their final rehearsal. They’re staying in the suburbs and that’s where he meets William while walking in a nearby park. William befriends him. It was like I’d known him for a long time, our man says. He goes home with William and learns how modern vampires operate.
Director Rutherford does a masterly job of directing his actor in blocking and movement. The play, which would be quite different if Webb spent most of his time in the comfy chair, becomes more dramatic with this staging. Sound design is by Joe Griffin. Costuming is by Rachel Sypniewski. Ella Joyce Johnson is stage manager.
Webb’s performance is uncanny, as if he indeed had gone through the vampire experience. He’s a member of the Trap Door Theatre ensemble, where we’ve seen him in Mother Courage, The Pragmatists and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. With Black Button Eyes, he played the lead in Nevermore—The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe in 2018.
The McPherson play was staged in 2019 by Goodman Theatre; you can read my review. Neither than or now can I explain the meaning of the title, although McPherson is known for using mystical notes and holiday themes in plays such as The Seafarer and Dublin Carol.
St. Nicholas by Black Button Eyes Productions continues at City Lit Theatre, 1022 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., through July 26. Running time is 110 minutes including an intermission. Buy tickets and get more info.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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