Trey Maclin, Laurie Larson, Jennifer Byers, Jaimelyn Gray/Photo: Heather Stumpf
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Crass, hilarious and unexpectedly tender, this production takes one of juvenile Brecht’s fairly undeveloped plays and turns it into a showcase for gorgeous theatricality of all kinds. The story—a young man and his not-so-secretly pregnant bride host a disastrous wedding party full of stock terrible relatives and eccentric, lecherous friends—is predictable; for example, the young man proudly points out at the beginning of the evening that he’s made all the furniture, which then proceeds to fall apart in classic slapstick ways as the social gathering becomes more and more chaotic and eventually ends in ruins as well. But it’s the way that everything falls apart that’s so incredible here; the joy in this show comes from following the characters sparring verbally, groping one another’s spouses, and reciting wildly inappropriate stories and songs, often all at the same time. Musical interludes—such as a cuckold husband’s attempts to play “I can’t help falling in love with you” on the guitar, or Andy Hager’s inimitable lecherous song-as-toast, provide yet another layer of gratification. If the show sometimes toes the line of the pornographic (there are, perhaps, a few too many moments of simulated sex), its pure joy at exhibitionism and stagecraft keeps the show from feeling merely vulgar. (Monica Westin)
TUTA‘s “The Wedding” plays at the Chopin Theater, 1543 West Division, (847)217-0691. Through February 14.
Right Is Right: A Review of "Big River" at Mercury Theater "Big River" is a musical based on Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, with songs by Roger Miller. Mercury Theater’s production is crisply moving, superbly sung and highly entertaining.
