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The Uneasy Chair
By Evan Smith
Directed by Michael Halberston
At Writers’ Theatre
325 Tudor Court
Glencoe, IL
Call 847-242-6000, tickets $45 - $57
Tuesdays thru Fridays at 8 PM
Saturdays 5 & 8 PM
Sundays at 2:30 & 6 PM
Running time is 2 hrs, 20 with intermission
Through November 27, 2005
“Marriage isn’t a word...it’s a sentence”-- King Vidor
The Uneasy Chair easy to enjoy!
How often do see a play written in 1998 by an American man from Georgia that is strongly influenced by the great Victorian writers Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope? That is what Writers’ Theatre offers with Evan Smith’s splendid comedy of manners that has its voice in Victorian London circa 1880. The Uneasy Chair is an immensely modern, yet clearly more like Shaw or Wilde than one would expect from a 21st Century American playwright. The result is a smart, witty period piece filled with marvelous British middle class characters played to comic perfection by a sterling cast of five from Chicago’s “A” list.
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When stubborn, thrifty, spinster Amelia Pickles (in a comic tour de force by Linda Kimbrough) rents a room to the equally stubborn, thrifty, bachelor Captain Wickett (played with biting, yet droll comic turn by Greg Vinkler); neither have any idea of the chaos in store. The idea of marriage, the rule of law and the legal tactic of breach of promise leads to a clever plotted show full of surprises and rich comic turns. Add Ross Lehman as Cagebee, the barrister and all sorts of characters including a female friend of Amelia and a maid and you have three of the finest character/comedic actors in Chicago in full delicious roles. Watching Kimbrough, Vinkler and Lehman perform their craft is like getting a PhD in acting.
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Smith’s snappy script allows each to shine. I can’t imagine anyone other than these three playing the principle roles. Kimbrough’s gestures and facial expression were priceless. Vinkler’s droll stuffy British gentleman was right on while Ross Lehman’s ability to switch characters instantly speaks to his comedic range. Without him, you’d need 2-3 actors to play his demanding roles.
When the trouble escalates from landlord and tenant to plaintiff and defendant to husband and wife, we get a funny look at Victorian relationships as the two principle bull-heads stubbornly refuse to compromise. The game of one-upmanship is played with unflinching fervor. Vinkler and Kimbrough are terrific here. Add nice work from John Sanders as Darlington who seeks a wife and Molly Glynn as Miss Crosbie, Darlington’s quest and The Uneasy Chair delivers a funny, unpredictable and thoroughly fresh story.
Director Michael Halberstam has an easy brisk pace that works nicely to cover the complications, land the comic moments and cover the story line that encompasses twenty-five years of stubborn struggle. With excellent lighting by Michelle Habeck on Linda Buchanan’s miniature London set, The Uneasy Chair has a pure 1880’s language and style complete with Rachel Anne Healy’s marvelous costume design that has both men and woman in period perfect dress and hair style.
It a rare treat to see a Victorian comedy with such a fresh script played near perfectly by such a fine cast. Those who know Writers’ Theatre know that they almost always deliver world-class theatre. The Uneasy Chair is splendid.
Not to Be Missed
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Chicago Sage Talk Radio Show
This show eligible for a C.S.T. Equity Theatre Award
October 4, 2005
Jeff Recommended
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