'Paradise' brings American dream
into sharp focus TimeLine's revival couldn't be more timely
by Hedy Weiss
Theater Critic,
published August 30, 2007
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
With TimeLine Theatre's fervent revival of Clifford Odets' "Paradise Lost," the trumpet call announcing Chicago's fall theater season has sounded.
And it's a most impassioned opening blast.
TimeLine, with its historical bent, has clearly turned to this rarely revived play (first produced in 1935, by the fabled Group Theater) because of its timely echoes. Set in the heart of the Great Depression -- as memories of World War I are still vivid, as worrying signs of another war are beginning to surface, and as financial disaster has hit many businesses and resulted in even middle-class families being evicted from their homes -- Odets' work is not an exact replica of the current American scene. But it certainly is a good reminder of how quickly the American dream can turn to ashes, and how a seeming paradise can suddenly be lost.
The time is 1932. The place is New York. The family at the center of the story includes Leo Gordon (Michael Kingston), the quiet, decent patriarch who owns a printing business with his neighbor Sam Katz (Brian McCartney); Leo's pragmatic but devoted wife, Clara (a pitch-perfect Janet Ulrich Brooks); their oldest son, Ben (Aaron Gordon), a once-golden athlete; and his sickly younger brother Julie (Jurgen Hooper), who dreams of stock-market magic. They also have a sister, Pearl (Mechelle Moe, exuding heat even in her silences), a gifted pianist whose fiance, also a musician (played by Clayton Smerican), flees because he can't make a living.
As the Gordons' printing company begins to fail, politicians and criminals offer various solutions to fend off catastrophe. And each member of the family watches as any vestige of hope withers.
Director Louis Contey has an uncanny gift for tapping into this writer's searing, heart-baring style with its mix of deep poetic realism and near-operatic emotions. And not only has he orchestrated fine ensemble playing by his 14 actors, but he has made sure they each supply just the right musical voice to bring this story of volatile times and volatile people to life.
Playing other crucial roles here are Scott Aiello, riveting as the smart, angry laborer revolted by politicians; Craig Degel, as just such a glad-handing political hack; Whit Spurgeon, as the penniless radio repair man; Angela Bullard, as Katz's long-suffering, protective wife; Tien Doman, as Ben Gordon's sexy, opportunistic mate, and Jeremy Glickstein, as the hot-headed Kewpie, Ben's jealous, thuggish pal and rival.
Karen Hoffman's sharply angled set -- at once realistic and symbolic -- is first-rate, with Pearl's grand piano perched over the action like a great, dark cloud. We know paradise is truly lost when the music stops.
