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No Darkness Round My Stone
Written by Fabrice Melquiot
Translated by David Bradby
Directed by Max Truax
At trap Door Theatre
1655 W. Cortland
Chicago, IL
Call 773-384-0494, www.trapdoortheatre.com
Tickets $20 (2 for 1 on Thursdays)
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Running time is 90 minutes without intermission
Through October 11, 2008
An ironic portrait of grave robbers is sensual and enticing
David Bradby’s translation of French playwright Fabrice Melquiot’s poetic “No Darkness Round My Stone” is a theatrical triumph of the first order. From the eerie set design (by Ewelina Dobiesz) to the tattered customs and make-up, “No Darkness Round My Stone” take us into the world of the dead where two grave robbers and a necrophilia vie for the affection of the dead. Director Max Trax mixes hyper-realism with surrealism with doses of absurdism, banality and complexity into a darkly comedic look at the bleak life of grave robbers. Filled with haunting lyrical, almost poetic language, this unique show fully engages us as we wonder what will happen next. Juste (Casey Chapman) wonders into the cemetery in search of sex but he runs into Dan (David Steiger) and his brother Ivan (Kevin Lucero Less) plucking gold teeth and wedding rings from the dead.
Juste encounters several corpses come alive in search of sex and new beginnings. Laurie (Cassandra Kaluza) and Dolores (Tiffany Joy Ross) want sex, Laurie with the virgin Ivan and Dolores first with Dan, then Juste. Next we encounter Louis Bayle (Bob Wilson), Ivan and Dan’s father who turns into the tranny, Lullaby. The adventures allow the dead to die and to come alive throughout in an allegory for life’s tragic failures as well as to celebrate new beginnings. We see the power of sexual attraction on the human psyche at work. “No Darkness Round My Stone” is splendidly performed by the entire cast with hauntingly honest and engrossingly deep acting. I especially like the work of Casey Chapman and Kevin Lucero Less.
For an evening of surrealism French style theatre with outstanding acting—get to Trap Door Theatre to see their world premier of the English translation of Melquiot’s excellent play. This is wonderful Chicago storefront theatre.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 4, 2008
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