Steppenwolf’s “Fool for Love,” with Nick Gehlfuss and Caroline Neff/Photo: Michael Brosilow
RECOMMENDED
Steppenwolf Theatre presents perhaps one of the most toxic relationships of all time in their hard-hitting revival of Sam Shepard’s classic, “Fool for Love.” It is in fact an understatement to say that love has made this couple foolish—it has made them desperate and untethered. Set in a forgotten motel somewhere deep in the Mojave Desert (a fact beautifully articulated by Todd Rosenthal’s minimalistic scenic design), it begins with May (Caroline Neff) in shock over her long-absent lover’s return. We soon learn this lover, Eddie (Nick Gehlfuss), is unpredictable, jealous and manipulative. Resting just below the surface is a tragic side, a wounded heart that all the tequila in Mexico cannot begin to fill. May has her demons too, and together they are combustible—fated to always be “real mean and sloppy” toward the other. Interjecting themselves into their fight this time is The Old Man (Tim Hopper), a ghost-like figure from their shared past who sits just off stage, as well as another suitor who just wants to take May out to the movies.
Steppenwolf’s “Fool for Love,” with Nick Gehlfuss and Tim Hopper/Photo: Michael Brosilow
With a running time of just over an hour, “Fool for Love” is an exercise in blunt force that demands quite a lot from the two principal characters. Caroline Neff and Nick Gehlfuss more than meet this challenge, as their very physical and organic performances capture the eye like a train wreck. Their words hurt each other too, with every piece of dialogue landing like a beer bottle thrown across the stage. Also exemplary is Tim Hopper as The Old Man; an often-charming drinker whose frequent recollections slowly build the case for one very dark family secret. Injecting just enough humor into the story to make it all palpable is Cliff Chamberlain as May’s dopey second-choice love interest.
Director Jeremy Herrin paces the action well, with no element going to waste. The aesthetic—wood-paneled walls, a jealous lover lurking in the night and tequila drank straight from the bottle—elevate the story nicely without ever eclipsing the power dynamic defining Eddie and May’s relationship. Presented in Steppenwolf’s more intimate downstairs theater, this is quite simply storytelling at its best. Two doomed lovers forever repeating the actions of their parents—recommend that you take it all in with a tequila back.
“Fool for Love” plays through March 23 at Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 North Halsted. Tickets are $20-$138, available at steppenwolf.org or by calling (312)335-1650.
