Michael Stegall, Jen Short/Photo: Dean LaPrairie
RECOMMENDED
It’s a situation “straight from Chaucer,” as Jon Steinhagen’s Dr. Lyman puts it: On a dreary March evening, a blizzard closes the highway near a bus stop in rural Kansas, and the passengers on a bus out of Kansas City take refuge in the adjoining diner for the night. But it’s not just March that comes in like a lion. Cherie (Jen Short), a nineteen-year-old nightclub singer, bursts in from the bus, followed shortly by the young cowboy, Bo (Michael Stegall), she claims has abducted her.
William Inge’s 1955 classic is an exhaustingly popular play, but for good reason. The well-drawn characters that populate the diner, in the hands of the excellent cast, are revealed slowly and surely like layers falling away from an onion. Of particular note is the aforementioned Steinhagen, whose bumblingly tragic, washed-up “aesthete” (1950’s code for “gay”) with scandalous eyes for the teenage waitress Elma (Sophia Menendian) simply commands his every scene. If you want tried and true, Raven Theatre is the place to go. (Neal Ryan Shaw)
Raven Theatre at 6157 N. Clark, (773)338-2177. Through December 11.
Related Stories
Lost and Found: A Review of Bus Stop at Eclipse Theatre Company Eclipse Theatre Company’s William Inge season continues with this 1955 play about getting lost in order to get found.- That's So Raven: A Review of The Gentleman Caller at Raven Theatre Language-heavy, plot-light and emotionally fraught, this world premiere from Philip Dawkins finds an ideal home at Raven Theatre.
- Dog Days: A Review of Yen at Raven Theatre Anna Jordan's play, receiving its local premiere at Raven, examines toxic masculinity in terms of maternal care and its absence.
- Quoth the Raven: A Review of Poe at Theatre Above the Law This charming theatrical anthology is probably best enjoyed only by those fans most committed to its namesake.
- Praises Go Up: A Review of Choir Boy at Raven Theatre The Chicago Premiere of Oscar Winner Tarell Alvin McCraney's "Choir Boy" illuminates the internal and external conflicts of young black life.
- Hazy Season: A Review of Suddenly Last Summer at Raven Theatre Raven Theatre's production of this Tennessee Williams play obscures rather than clarifies the play's intentions.
