Jordan Brodess and Japhet Balaban/Photo: Michael Courier
RECOMMENDED
Violence is a peculiar type of thoughtlessness. Even well-plotted attacks stem from the sheer failure to consider consequences, channel empathy or rationally question one’s own motives. Violence is most regrettable because the act itself only lasts an instant while the ramifications that tragically unfold in the lives of others go on forever.
Thoughtlessness and violence are compellingly mapped out in “Never the Sinner,” John Logan’s character study of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold: their friendship, infamous crime and subsequent trial. Intricately wrought with quick and dynamic pacing, the play moves through time with brazen disregard for linearity: from courtroom scenes to private moments in prison cells; from small, shared intimacies to the murder of the unwitting fourteen-year-old Robert Franks.
As the story builds, we bear witness to Leopold and Loeb talking each other into committing murder. They intellectualize the act and famously use Nietzsche’s “Ubermensch” theory to convince themselves that they are “exempt from laws that bind humanity.” When Leopold doubts their plans, Loeb goads him on saying, “philosophies are meant to be lived.”
Screaming headlines, pounding gavels and the popping flashbulbs punctuate the play while the lighting design (courtesy Keith Parham) transforms scenes instantaneously, effectively propelling the audience along through this twisted tale. The speed of this production produces a tremendous effect. A sharp and engaged crew of actors nail the furious onslaught of cues like synchronized sprinters constantly taking off in an unrelenting series of fifty-meter dashes.
The cold quickness of the play amplifies the thoughtlessness of the main characters. Despite this, the audience is drawn in by the unrelenting effort to understand the murderers and to consider, as Clarence Darrow (Leopold and Loeb’s lawyer played by Keith Kupferer) puts it, “the darkest recesses of the human mind.” This play has no easy answers; not even rationality can light up these dark recesses. Leaving the theater, you’ll find yourself perplexed and troubled by how easy it seems, even for intellectuals, to adhere to ideologies and to live philosophies without critical thought. (Joy Miller)
Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 North Lincoln, victorygardens.org, (773)871-3000, $15-$60. Through December 6.
Related Stories
Tempers in Bloom: A Review of Native Gardens at Victory Gardens Theater RECOMMENDED In many urban American cities, houses are so close together that neighbors can see into each other’s backyards. Fences are often put up, not just to give a sense of privacy but to mark property lines, creating a visible boundary to declare what belongs to each party. What happens when those fences wither and that border line deteriorates? Moreover,…- Disassembling the System: A Review of Pipeline at Victory Gardens Dominique Morisseau returns to Chicago with an urgent new play that maps the direct route from education to incarceration for America's youth of color.
- Hive Mind: A Review of Queen at Victory Gardens Theater RECOMMENDED Science and math have been the focus of several productions already this year. And while Madhuri Shekar's "Queen" is an assured piece of writing, Victory Gardens' world-premiere production of it could learn from Court Theatre's "The Hard Problem" and TimeLine's "A Disappearing Number." While lab work doesn't often translate to thrilling scene work, "Queen" gets little help from its flat…
- Apprehensive Experience: A Review of Lettie at Victory Gardens Theater In producing this play about prison and societal reintegration, Victory Gardens Theater unconsciously traffics in some of the racial dynamics that prop up the prison system.
- Standing Up: A Review of Where Did We Sit on the Bus at Victory Gardens Theater RECOMMENDED Give this show your time. Give this show your money. Most importantly, give this story and Brian Quijada your attention. Directed by Chay Yew, "Where Did We Sit on the Bus" is a remount of Quijada's 2016 world premiere, which also launched under Yew's direction, at Chicago's Storefront Theater. Quijada’s combination of storytelling, beat boxing, singing/rapping, music making and…
- Hymns to Narcissus: A Review of St. Jude at Victory Gardens Theater Performance art is a transgressive medium, designed to startle and confront. But when, early on in his one-man “St. Jude” monologue, Luis Alfaro tosses off an offensive joke about pedophile priests (“I was an altar boy at Latin Mass and not a single priest laid his hands on me–dammit!”), it sounds more oblivious than provocative. The line is a warning…
