Playwright: Julia Jordan
At: American Theater Company,
1909 W. Byron
Phone: ( 773 ) 929-1031; $25-$30
Runs through: March 26
St. Patrick's Day is but a couple of weeks away and, improbably perhaps, American Theater Company might be just the place to celebrate this holiday that extols all things Irish. It's here that you'll discover the snowbound Minnesota Cummins family: sisters Rose ( a world-weary and controlled performance by Cheryl Graeff ) and Ruby ( Gwendylon Whiteside, in a way-over-the-top performance ) . The pair, polar opposites, the former depressive and the latter manic, endure visits from their brother Seamus ( Kevin R. Kelly ) , who is more interested in what he can loot from his wood-paneled kitschy boyhood home than he is in his sisters. His looting desires may come to quick fruition because Mother Cummins has breathed her last breaths in the bedroom upstairs.
Playwright Julia Jordan's script, and Steppenwolf veteran Rick Snyder's direction are both studies in controlled chaos. This is a fast-chugging 90 minutes, where the claustrophobic world dominated by winter in Minnesota is spinning out of control. The principle instigator of that chaos is Vinnie Silverstein ( a sexy and charming Rocky Russo ) , who arrives out of nowhere from Brooklyn, N.Y., to claim Rose, with whom he says he's had a torrid love affair. Whether his claims are true or not ( and whether the letters he has in evidence were written by Rose herself or not is never completely verified ) , this stranger has a galvanizing effect on both sisters: Rose, who seems to want to paradoxically keep him at arm's length while pulling him into bed, and Ruby, who is looking to escape her Minnesota Irish homestead and sees Vinnie as her ticket out.
This is a play where the word 'wacky' will come into play when describing it. The whole little cosmos on stage here ( with perfectly rendered scenic design from Mary Griswold ) is just on the verge of losing control, especially with handsome strangers who are unafraid to literally stick their hand into the fire and Mother's corpses who end up laid out in green finery on the kitchen table. All of this could have turned out just silly if not for the careful direction and the spot-on performances by the talented ensemble. And, of course, the script, which lays the groundwork for the entire venture into lunacy. Julia Jordan is a force to be reckoned with; she knows how to tell a story, and even better, knows how to create characters that, while quirky in the extreme, always have heart.
Have a couple of green beers before heading out to St. Scarlet. You'll have a damned good time.