But Hunter's whale is beached in a kind of border town, stuck between the conformity of the land-locked Plains and the open seas of the Pacific Northwest, where a nice man who has had some troubles could just be himself and swim away. Hunter hails from Idaho himself, and this play holds its share of American Gothics: big, upper-case Characters. I should note, I suppose, that Hunter and Charlie have mordent senses of humor. But by then, most people's eyes will be too misty to really notice. Only the very last moment of Schultz's production does not entirely work. Survivor performed here monthly early in. It brought in acts like Blue yster Cult, Molly Hatchet, Black Oak Arkansas, Extreme, Foghat, Johnny Winter, Mother Love Bone (who played their only Chicago show at the Whale), and Peter Criss. And yet even though you quickly come to care for these folks, the script constantly swims in directions you do not expect and past the nets waiting to trip up its trajectory. The Thirsty Whale, which opened in 1971, was a rock music club at 8800 Grand Avenue, River Grove, Illinois. All of these needy characters feel recognizable in Shultz's production - Allan (as the missionary) deserves a good share of the credit in the way he humanizes one of those dangerously easy targets. Same goes for Karpel's blisteringly angry Ellie. Kane's Mary, for example, roars, raging, back into Charlie's orbit and there is something about the simplicity of her work that seems to allow us to sense the entire history of their relationship, unspoken as it may be. Calandra looked spent by the end of the single-act, 110 minutes.īetter yet, Schultz and her set designer, Chelsea Warren, have nixed any and all pretentious theatrical clutter in favor of high-stakes, fast-paced truthtelling without unnecessary preamble. It feels like every interaction, every moment, every attempt to stand upright, is exacting a price from the actor. But it's apt, for Calandra is so emotionally alive here. It might seem strange to describe this performance as restless, given that Charlie hardly moves (the costume designer Janice Pytel has Charlie encased in rolls of fat). The show is exquisitely cast - Calandra brings just the right note of gentleness to a role that could easily crush most actors, evoking not only a man enmeshed in a deep crisis about to take his life, but the universality of how sensitive souls easily can find themselves beaten down by circumstance. Lean, raw and vital, this first Chicago production of "The Whale" (which was Off-Broadway earlier this season) is far and away the best piece of direction I've seen from Schultz. If only you would not fear for your back. You want almost to leap out of your seat and carry Calandra's humble Charlie off to eternal protection. Hunter clearly understands that this drama would not work for a moment if we did not care about the man at the center of this play.
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