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After Ashley
By Gina Gionfriddo
Produced by Stage Left Theatre
3408 N. Sheffield
Chicago, IL
Tickets: 773-883-8830 or www.stagelefttheatre.com ; $20-$25
Thur-Sat at 8:00 p.m., Sun at 3:00 p.m.
Running time is 2 hours and 20 minutes with one intermission
Through November 15th
Wit with a Message
Gina Gionfriddo’s award winning comedy, After Ashley, is in its Chicago premiere as the season opener at Stage Left. It is one of the wittiest plays of the last few years and it is easy to understand why the play won an Obie Award and was nominated for a laundry list of other awards. Though set in the aftermath of personal tragedy, the script is mostly hilarious. Those who enjoy thought provoking humor will love this show because it says a great deal about the perverse, media-driven obsession of contemporary society with using the pain of others as entertainment. After Ashley is not quite a masterwork, but there are blinding flashes of insight that are satisfyingly dead-on.
The story centers on 17-year-old Justin Hammond (Brian Plocharczyk), a very bright adolescent whose mom (Nika Ericson) was brutally murdered in their home when he was 14. Justin’s life is naturally turned upside down, but what has him even more messed up than the loss of his mom is the media attention to the 911 call that Justin made. That call made Justin and his dad (Ian Maxwell) media celebrities and the resulting unlikely humor from the tensions between the father and son is genuinely funny. Plocharczyk succeeds in the problematic task of creating the illusion of Justin from 14 to 17 years of age. It is a task made all the more difficult by Justin’s wise-beyond-his-years character, but Plocharczyk is at least believable enough at this level to allow his magnificent comic timing to run with the humor. His masterful work is the glue that holds the outstanding cast together and director Greg Werstler’s soaring two-hour plus laugh fest just flies by.
Don’t let the dark topic put you off. After Ashley is funny and has some wonderful characters that are worth meeting: Kate Black is the perfect counterpart as Justin’s college girl love interest, Julie. Black gets way beyond the stereotype of the Goth girl she plays and her chemistry with Plocharczyk could not be better. Medical emergency threw Stage Left veteran Mike Rogalski into the role of David, a John Walsh style television producer, less than 48 hours before opening night. During the opening performance Mr. Rogalski scored magic moments in the role even with script still in hand, so After Ashley can only get better as he settles in. Give him a week, if you insist. And finally, there’s Nika Ericson as Ashley, Justin’s hippy mom. We only get to meet her in the opening scene, but by the time she departs (pun intended) the riotous tone of the show has been thoroughly set.
After Ashley is as off-beat as comedy can get, but the humor is accessible to all. It makes its point without being preachy and delivers touching human moments that are rare for a show this funny. This is a quality production with tremendous finesse.
Highly Recommended
Randy Hardwick
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
Date Reviewed: October 14, 2008
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