Crave

By Sarah Kane

Directed by Stephan Cone

At the Side Project

1520 W. Jarvis

Chicago, IL

Call 773-973-2150, tickets $10 - $15

Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 PM

Sundays at 7 PM

Running time 50 minutes

Through December 18, 2005

Crave wastes the supreme efforts of the cast.

The Side Project does provocative plays; they take chances and expand their horizons. That is wonderful and more theatre companies should follow their lead. When you take chances, you risk producing plays that no one cares to see. Crave falls into that category.

The best thing about crave is that it is only 50 minutes, yet it seem to take hours. The four actors Will Schutz, John Wilson, Sadie Rogers and Elizabeth Hipwell exude much emotion in this draining psycho-poem. They work hard trying.

The show opens to an empty stage with four chairs. Each cast member slowly enters the stage, pausing at the doorway to stare right through the audience for what seem like an eternity.. After doing a paranoid check of the stage, each inmate sat down and stared in silence. This process took 10 minutes or so. The nonverbal movements and gestures suggested a group of psychotics.

Once the talking started it was a machine gun like repetitious babble in a weird sort of disjointed rhythm together with chair throwing, groping, shouting, screaming in anger outbursts, filled with bewilderment and frustration. They scream often over one another about rape, infidelity, loneliness, rejection in violently delusional state. If one were to place a microphone in a psyc ward of the county hospital, I’m betting we’d hear this show. One would say that the author must be crazy to write such wacky babble. Well, you’d be right since Sarah Kane hung herself at age 28 after failing to cope with her severe depression.

My question is this: who is the audience for this incoherent babble? Why was it written? And why produce this dreadful work? As an actor, I’d want to do this play because of the wacky parts. But why would a theatre company think anyone would enjoy this show? No matter what the message—a show must have an element of entertainment value. This show only irritates and exhausts our patience. Since it is so rambling, what is the point? If there is one, I sure missed it. I left the theatre feeling cheated—not for my money (I get comps to every show I see)—but because I was cheated out of 50 minutes of my time.

Plays like Crave should be actor’s exercises only. I can’t think of anyone who would enjoy this downer? I admire the Side Project for doing different works but I advise them to make sure each has some audience appeal or they’ll be playing to many empty houses.

Not Recommended

Tom Williams

Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments

Chicago Stage Talk Radio Show

October 30, 2005

Editor’s Note: I guess there is an audience for this show since it has been extended thru Dec. 18th--go figure!