The slice-of-life vignettes in this stage adaptation of Stuart Dybek’s “The Coast of Chicago” suffer from a theater-cute affectation along the lines of Neil Simon-meets-Studs Terkel. Beware the show that takes great pains to point out its kaleidoscopic display of colorful characters, as does this Walkabout Theatre production. Directed by Gary Zabinski with a slavish sort of reverence for the source material, the piece begins somewhat arbitrarily, giving off the disturbing impression that you’ve inadvertently arrived mid-story. A narrator looks back at his childhood growing up the son of Polish immigrants in post-World War II Pilsen, where his pals were mostly Mexican and their haunts mostly the streets. While these memories do eventually gain some traction in terms of storytelling—poetically rendered nostalgia has a way of doing that—the play overall feels arcless and incomplete. (Nina Metz)
This production is now closed.
Related Stories
A Second Company's Saga: The Spirited Story of Fifty Years of Chicago Opera Theater Chicago Opera Theater began as a handful of vocal students of company founder Alan Stone. It was formed by Stone to give his students actual performance practice and experience. Stone’s decision to present operas in English was a considerable break with convention back in 1973.
Fields of Love: A Review of "As You Like It" at Chicago Shakespeare Theater A pastoral comedy is just what the doctor ordered to ease our way out of our recent confinement. Chicago Shakespeare Theater obliges with its bright, energetic tale of souls fleeing death and duplicity and finding peace and love in the woods.
