Brenda Barrie, Jasmine Bracey/Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
An odd side effect of our political dysfunction is the high bar set for any play dealing with paranoid government conspiracies. You cannot compete with Trump’s Twitter account. Credit Christina Telesca Gorman for giving it a try in her well-crafted “Roan @ the Gates,” in its Chicago premiere at the American Blues Theater. When Roan, an NSA employee, comes to grips with her role in a massive government data-mining program (one so immense that information is stored in a special server housed in Idaho), she decides that the only thing to do is to leak the information to a Wikileaks-style entity. That choice leads to her having to take refuge in Russia. Left behind is her wife Nat, who struggles to pick up the pieces.
However troubling the setup may be, the beating heart of this production is the relationship between Roan and Nat. Played with real guts by Brenda Barrie (Roan) and Jasmine Bracey (Nat), the actors wrestle with bigger concepts of loyalty and virtue while also trying to salvage their relationship. Bracey is especially convincing as a civil rights attorney who, although unafraid to stand up for her own beliefs, cannot forgive Roan for doing the same.
Also commendable is director Lexi Saunders’ deft use of technology. In the beginning, Nat and Roan are able to debate one another face to face. Toward the end, however, they have to do so via an encrypted messenger, their voices nothing more than robotic utterances drifting from one continent to the other. It is as if the two characters are reduced in real time to just another set of data points. It is these flourishes, along with the truly memorable performances by Barrie and Bracey, that elevate this production from political thriller to something more relatable. (Noel Schecter)
American Blues Theater at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont, (773)327-5252, americanbluestheater.com, $19-$39. Through February 29.
Related Stories
Scandal-less: A Review of Five Presidents at American Blues Theater A veteran TV writer turns his attention to the presidency.- The Public Eye: A Review of The Columnist at American Blues Theater RECOMMENDED In a society accustomed to having—or believing it has—twenty-four-hour access to uncensored, to-the-minute information, the exclusion of the New York Times, CNN, LA Times, Politico and BuzzFeed from an off-camera White House press briefing on the twenty-fourth of February was a shocking rebuke to media outlets that do not mouth the pabulum of the current administration and a bullhorn in…
- Constellation of Characters: A Review of Beauty's Daughter at American Blues Theater Beauty’s daughter is named Diane. Diane doesn’t love anyone—she always does what she calls “the slide” and gets the hell out of the way of any feelings that might come too strong or dark. She is not, she needs you to know, a “punk-ass bitch.” She listens to jazz and writes poetry in an apartment with a portrait of Rimbaud…
- Pioneer Spirit: A Review of Flyin’ West at American Blues Theater At American Blues Theater, Pearl Cleage's stunning historical melodrama remains an essential addendum to the history of American expansion.
- A Foustian Bargain: The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey at American Blues Theater Veteran actor Joe Foust tactfully navigates the emotional landscape of this powerful one-man show about an extraordinary boy and the town that knew him.
- American Nightmare: A Review of Welcome to Jesus at American Theater Company This world premiere from Janine Nabers marks Will Davis' most daring directorial work to date at his new home company.
