what: the way west by mona mansour
where: steppenwolf theatre in lincoln park
accompaniment: emily & ally!
drinkability: great! we had free drink tickets, full bar. and they're nice if you spill your drink immediately after receiving it.
show length: two hours, ten minute intermission
out of four: two/four
when you attend mostly storefront theatres around the city with people digging into the bottoms of their pockets and purses to put on the show of their dreams where sets are sparse, costumes are usually owned by the actors, and the entirety of the show is filled out as best as possible- its always a little bit of a shock to walk into a theatre and an open air set that has a lot of money behind it. that, to me is one of my favorite things about attending a show at steppenwolf. the production quality is always tops, sometimes you get to witness celebrities on the stage, the place is pristine, but you can sit so close to the action that you feel like you're in on a secret- peeking through the window as the story unfolds in front of you.
THE WAY WEST is a story following a family of three- mom, meesh, and manda, a rag-tag group of women from the west who are not only linked by blood but by life and financial struggles. manda is visiting home to help her mother declare bankruptcy and attempting to help her sister meesh cope with taking care of her aging mother. it's a classic "you left us here to fend for ourselves!" storyline for the first half as we're settling in to the family and their quirks- including breakdowns where acoustic guitars are brought out from unseen hallways and slung across shoulders for a quick song- mostly about heading west and being an individual who forges and fends for themselves.
i was excited to see diredre o'connell in the role of the mother, having recognized her for her part in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind - and she did not disappoint. she was by far the most interesting and captivating actor to watch on stage, her ideals and pride in westerners projecting straight out of her as she pleads with her daughters, shares a folktale or breaks out into song.
it was additionally exciting to see steppenwolf's artistic director martha lavey step into the role of tress. i had last seen martha on stage in 2010's MIDDLETOWN- unaware that she frequented the stage. tress was the only additional character besides the three women who i felt had any weight and purpose to share the stage with them.
while the songs, stories, and dialogue were all individually appreciated and interesting, when combined over this two hour period with the women- they became puzzle pieces that didn't totally fit together, but you smashed them together anyway to achieve the product. the retrieval of acoustic guitars and at one point an auto harp were often clunky, requiring the actors to step into an unseen hallway, briefly play an anecdotal song about heading west and then rid themselves of the instruments, again putting them away in the depths of back/offstage which leaves me wondering why they weren't just part of the set. even the stories told by mom (which i very much enjoyed) were used as more of a gap-filler between scenes rather than a tool to launch the story forward.
the star of this show above and beyond was the set. steppenwolf builds sets with a level of detail and perfection that are meant to be marveled at. kevin depinet designed the set, with a slew of prop and set designers employed to fill it out. the three of us sat and admired the tiniest of details - the peek of a discarded crate and barrel box in the top shelf of the closet, the varying magnets and paper accessories slapped organically on the refrigerator, and more. they achieve a 'lived-in' look that isn't necessarily thought possible.
THE WAY WEST runs thru june 8th, tickets range from $20-$65 with some discounts over at hottix.
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upcoming april shows:
-sunday april 27th, 2pm: the ruckus' the deer
join me, will you?