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My Thing of Love
By Alexandra Gersten
Directed by Genevieve Thompson
Produced by Infamous Commonwealth Theatre
At Raven Theatre’s west stage
6157 N. Clark Street
Chicago, Il
Call 312-458-9780, tickets $15
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 PM
Sundays at 3:30 PM
Running time is 2 hours with intermission
Through May 7, 2006
Weak script made presentable by fine acting
It is a mystery to me why Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, know for terrific productions of Cloud 9 and The Kentucky Cycle, would pick such weak play as My Thing of Love? Terrific acting especially from Jennifer Mathews and Craig Thompson may be the only reason to see this show.
My Thing of Love tries to be a dark comedy but it is neither very dark nor very funny. Elly, terrific work from Jennifer Mathews, finds out that her husband, Jack , Craig Thompson in a nice turn, is having an affair. Elly confronts him and the two argue as Jack tries to weasel his way out of his infidelity. Eventually an uneasy truce is declared.
Then Kelly, (Erica Peregrine), Jack’s lover visits Elly for a not too clear reason. They are joined by Garn (Joseph Alaimo), a counselor from Elly’s daughter’s school and the confusion and weird scene produces nothing permanent to the play. Eventually Elly discovers Jack in her bed with Kelly. She gets a ball bat and goes into a rage waving the bat around. Kelly leaves and the show ends with Elly and Jack holding hands on the bed. Really! Is Elly so desperate to keep her marriage together that she’ll let Jack stay. Too bad for her.
Sometimes you wonder why you sat through two hours when the script leaves you feeling cheated out of two hours of your time. I felt that way after witnessing My Thing of Love. Only Mathew’s and Thompson’s performance saves this show from total banality.
Somewhat Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed April 16, 2006
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