Daniel Kyri/Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
“You’re young, you’re black and you’re on trial—what else do they need to know?” snaps the lawyer to her client, a sixteen-year-old boy on trial for felony murder. The boy is named Steve Harmon. Steve has two nice parents and a little brother. He’s an aspiring filmmaker. He plans to go to college. When he asks his lawyer (Cheryl Graeff) how she came to be defending him, she replies dispassionately, “You get on a path and follow it.” Like “you do the crime, you do the time,” it’s one of many aphoristic remarks in “Monster,” adapted from Walter Dean Myers’ novel by Aaron Carter, a new play that adopts the courtroom drama’s old trope of guilt and innocence to show that these judgments are neither binary nor binding.
Narrated by Steve (Daniel Kyri), “Monster” illustrates the tension of a boy whose life hangs in the balance of others’ perception of him. The trial distills the question but for Steve the struggle is ongoing, from anxiously seeking the approval of a teacher (Chris Rickett) who finds him talented to living up to the machismo of the toughs in his neighborhood who tell him, “You don’t need intelligence to get paid. All you need is the heart.”
“Doesn’t justice mean the punishment fits the crime?” asks one inmate. “There are all sorts of ways of being guilty,” says another. “We lie to ourselves here. Maybe we’re here because we lie to ourselves,” notes Steve, who can’t quite reconcile his hope that he is not a bad person to the reality that a casual drugstore stickup of which he was an arguably nonviolent participant could result in a man’s death.
Though the action of the play rests in the excellent work of the ensemble, in which each actor seamlessly metamorphoses from neighborhood punk to lawyer to member of the family, executing synchronized donning of orange jumpsuits and swapping postures and dialects with finesse, the showmanship of the courtroom is a front for Steve’s internal, unresolved struggle with his own identity. “I want to look at myself a thousand times to find one true image,” he says. (Irene Hsiao)
Steppenwolf for Young Adults at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 North Halsted, (312)335-1650, steppenwolf.org, $15-$20. Through March 9.
Related Stories
The Mean Of Girls: A Review of The Burn at Steppenwolf for Young Adults The world premiere of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Young Adult production of Philip Dawkins’ play about bullying and victimhood may be about young people though it is not necessarily written for them.- Crossing Over: A Review of The Crucible at Steppenwolf for Young Adults The nuances of Arthur Miller's timeless classic feel at odds with the current cultural climate of glaring partiality.
- Making The Case: A Review of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Steppenwolf for Young Adults In a major coup, Steppenwolf for Young Adults lands the first local-originating production of Simon Stephens' Tony Award-winning play and makes the most of it.
- Monster Mash-Up: A Review of Frankenstein at Lifeline Theatre In recasting the story's lead, Lifeline's world premiere adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel seeks a feminist slant but misses the gender privilege at the core of the original.
- The History of History: A Review of We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West… The latest from Steppenwolf's educational arm is among the most unflinching and edifying works the company has produced in recent years.
- Making a Monster: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Continues Its Dedication to Female-Identified Artists With World Premiere of Margaret… Showcasing universal stories that are told from a distinctly feminine lens.
