Playwright: Will Kern. At: Profiles Theatre Main Stage, 4139 N. Broadway . Tickets: 773-549-1815; www.profilestheatre.org; $35-$40 . Runs through: Jan. 12
Hellcab, garaged since finishing its nine-year run in 2002 for the now-disbanded Famous Door company, resumed cruising the streets in 2012 at Profiles Theatre, where it now returns for another holiday season. You don't hear audiences vocalize in recognition of geography referenced in the script any morenot even the Wooden Nickel tavern on Wilson Avenuebut as if to prove that the city landscape doesn't change, Paul Dillon, the actor who first played the lonely young refugee from Rockford eking out an income as an automotive hack returns to his place at the wheelsomewhat weathered, like his decrepit vehicle, by odysseys we can only imagine.
A taxicab, you see, is not like a bus, which follows a fixed route, or a limo, shuttling between predetermined locations. The driver of a taxicab is an itinerant contractor, serving a dizzying panorama of humanity. He ( or nowadays, she ) may be called upon to perform the duties of a counselor, a bodyguard, a paramedic, a midwife, a confessor, a surrogate uncle, an old flame or a gallant suitor. His privacy may be interrupted at any moment by anybody with a few dollars to swap for temporary sanctuary from the stygian gloom lurking beneath the desperate cheeriness of a bitterly cold Christmas Eve in Chicago.
Our pilgrim's day starts with a pair of pious parents, quickly succeeded by an array of ethnic minorities demonstrating that bigotry transcends social, filial and occupational boundaries. By nightfall, he will witness the full spectrum of human appetitestrysting lovers who can't wait for a motel room, squabbling lovers who disrespect one another, and a cross-dresser who works up the nerve to dismiss her abusive consort. He will rush a pregnant woman to the hospital, attempt to rescue an innocent from the attentions of a cad, and deliver a rape victim safely to her door. He will be the target of strangers seductive, selfish, and scary before encountering a Samaritan to heal his scarred and wounded soul.
Director Darrell W. Cox imposes narrative coherence on a potentially scattershot script by tracking the supernatural elements associated with spiritual journeys on this traditionally magical night, while last year's outsized 303 taxi has been replaced by a compact Yellow model allowing us a clearer view of its 32 ( by my count ) passengers, as well as our guide's wearybut surprisingly mobilecountenance. Although it clocks in at a mere 80 minutes, Hellcab furnishes its riders with all the adventure and mystery of far more exotic excursions.