what: methtacular by steven strafford
where: theatre wit in lakeview
accompaniment: dustin!
drinkability: bar at the theatre, reasonably priced!
show length: 90 minutes, no intermission
out of four: three and a half/four
METHTACULAR is one of those shows that i'm glad i fell in to. i donated to dream theatre's fundraising event last month and ended up winning two tickets to a show i hadn't heard of and wasn't planning on seeing. never one to turn down complimentary tickets i started looking into the show and booked them for the last day of the month- just in time to squeeze in my last four in four.
i had no idea what to expect. the press releases and brief reviews i had seen popping up around the internet told a tale of an actor sharing his journey through crystal meth addiction and back again- all under cheesy stage lights and with smirks and smiles. was this going to be emotional, riviting, honest, heart-wrenching? or were we about to be drenched in 90 minutes of cheesy emotionally-disconnected song and dance which made light of a heavy addiction? luckily: it was both.
steven strafford wrote and performed this one man show with his outstandingly talented accompanist - charlotte rivard-hoster. with director adam fitzgerald taking the wheel- the trio takes you through stafford's first introduction to meth after meeting a man through a sex hotline in chicago all the way through his ultimate return home and recovery, all to come back to the very same theatre he was fired from to perform again.
strafford's energy through the 90-minute whirlwind of story, song, dance, humor, emotions and self-loathing is unmatchable. dressed in a simple black tshirt, jeans and red converse sneakers, stafford works in brief water breaks during transitions but otherwise doesn't stop talking, moving, and making his way through his life of addiction.
for a young, straight married woman living in chicago i was clueless to the meth problem riddling the gay community, and the bath houses, sex hotlines, and various other ways in which gay men became and shared their addiction. strafford experienced two relationships which fueled this- the latter being with an actual dealer. strafford moved around the simple set which is set up like a furniture store living room, using the simple props and furniture to move through time and space- all highly effective enough to make one feel like they were in the apartment with him- and with the other men in his life who never appeared on stage. at times he played videos of his mother, telling personal tales of when she got a frantic phone call from his then ex explaining that steven was missing, through knowing that he had a problem but didn't know how to stop it. her raw emotion coming on the television screen was the only chance we got to see someone else's emotions regarding the rollercoaster that was strafford's time of addiction.
strafford could have written a play with a large cast of men and we could have watched "him" go through his addiction highs and lows, but instead the talented performer spews one long monologue to us at times in almost a flippant way- describing his lowest lows as if describing an episode of 'the wire' he'd seen the night before. i sat astonished through the show, so impressed at the bravery of strafford to perform this piece not just once- but five times a week for the four week run. most of us want to run from and hide our darkest secrets. stafford embraces them and shares them with the chicago community. and thats not something done easily.
you're missing out if you don't catch METHTACULAR, running through september 28th.
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upcoming september shows:
sunday september 7th, 3pm: something incredibly marvelous happen's references to salvador dali make me hot
TBD
join me, will you?