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Fatboy
By John Clancy
Directed by Guy Van Swearingen
At A Red Orchid Theatre
1531 N. Wells Street
Chicago, IL
Call 312-943-8722, tickets $20 - $25
Thursdays thur Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 7 pm
Running time is 100 minutes with without intermission
Through March 2, 2008
Absurdist allegory overindulges
A Red Orchid Theatre loves to do gritty, in-your-face theatre with gusto. Their latest work, Fatboy by John Clancy based on Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi is an allegorical fable about man’s lust for power, violence and his appetite to consume everything in his wake. Guy Van Swearingen’s production features Steve Pickering as Fatboy and Jennifer Engstrom as his wife Fudgie. These two, dressed in fat suits, scream and badger each other in a most foul-mouthed, over talky vaudevillian burlesque fable that mocks tyrants and big government and our blind greed.
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This tedious show (it runs 30 minutes too long) sure graphically pushes its message in our faces. If it is trying to shake our apathetic attitudes, it sure does that. I did admire Steve Pickering and Jennifer Engstrom’s terrific comic effort. My problem was the redundancy in Clancy’s script. This absurdist work attempts to use exaggeration for dramatic or comic effect. This wild and egomaniac work rambles on with so little structure that it quickly became tedious. I got lost early.
The performances are strong and the production values excellent---it’s the writing I found to be shallow, incoherent and redundant. The players worked hard to maintain the comic edge using physical antics and shouting for effect. Too bad they so little to work with. Fatboy needs a purge and an enema.
A Red Orchid Theatre has the guts to offer such controversial works. Clancy’s play was just too much for me. Fans of extremely edgy work may enjoy this show.
Not Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: January 24, 2007
Jeff Recommended
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