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Eva Peron
By Copi
Directed by Beata Pilch
At Trap Door Theatre
1655 W. Cortland
Chicago, IL
Call 773-384-0494, tickets $17 (2 for 1 Thursdays)
Thursday thru Saturday at 8pm
Running time is 85 minutes without intermission
Through February 2, 2008
Fine production values saves strange show
Trap Door Theatre loves to do provocative shows and Eva Peron, their latest, sure qualifies. This eccentric dark comedy is a most rambling and weird absurdist piece by Copi (Raul Damonte Botana, 1939-1987). Eva Peron shows the last moments in the life of the famous lady as she is dying at age 33 of cancer. This depiction is really her hallucinating from the heavy drugs administered to her. Copi portrays the Argentine First Lady as a spoiled, neurotic and nasty person who demands loyalty until the end. She threatens not to give her demandingly obnoxious mother info about her Swiss bank accounts. This maddening show contains much flat, atonal guitar music (Sam Lewis) with cast members sing solos and harmonies as it unfolds as part performance art, part musical with much satire. We see how love, submission, greed and trickery fuel Eva’s last moments on earth.
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While I found the play’s structure, dialogue and storytelling repetitive and incoherent, Beata Pilch’s production saved a tedious show. Her use of music and songs, video projections and over-the-top performances from Holly Thomas (Eva Peron), Kevin Cox (Peron) and especially Carolyn Hoerdemann’s Mother garnered enough humor and energy to make the show palatable. This is pure absurdism, so be warned that it stretches the theatrical form. It is for lovers of experimental theatre. While I admire the effort, Eva Peron left me pondering why Copi wrote such a piece? If you crave something quite different—then this show may qualify. The performers and the production enliven the questionable material.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: December 29, 2007
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