Produced by Chicago’s estimable Steppenwolf Company of which the playwright is a longtime member.
I Night Safari
Gary is the tour guide at an animal preserve featuring creatures from half a dozen countries. “Good evening everybody…seat belts fastened…under no circumstance should you exit the people mover before completion of the tour…You seem like a fun group…” Each curious animal (all real) is viewed and described. We see photos.
As the tour progresses, Gary increasingly veers from script – though “Night Safari frowns on editorializing”- first with cynical, bored asides, then with comparisons to his own sad life. “How much are they obscuring their true nature to make themselves sociable,” he says of the Boreal Owl.
Requisite promotions for the restaurant and gift shop include 10 percent off if a visitor tells saleswoman Rhonda that Gary sent them. In fact, Rhonda is a cause of Gary’s despondency.
Rainn Wilson is entirely believable as his inner Eeyore takes over. The script is wry and naturalistic, but would be funnier if its ending were a bit more emotional. Camera work, unfortunately, tries to make something both weird and bigger out of the situation, especially when we hear thoughts aloud. This hampers sympathy. (Director of Photography Robert Benavides)
Directed by Patrick Zakem
Excellent Sound Design Sarah D. Espinoza
Photo by Liberace Cruzuee
II The Old Country
A (papier-mâché) puppet play. Ted (voice-William Peterson) has taken his old friend Landry (voice-Mike Nussbaum) out from a facility in which the older man (both are aged) resides. They lunch in a modest diner habituated over the years. Ted talks about the Russian waitresses replaced by college students, the way things used to be. Landry’s mind wanders. He’s fatalistic, paranoid, and thinks his companion is someone named Johnny. Ted is patient and sweet with him. That’s it. Really, just a reason to display the evocative puppets who seem expressive even though their mouths don’t move.
Also featuring Karen Rodriguez as the voice of the waitress
Directed by Patrick Zakem
Puppets and Production Design Grace Needlman
Director of Photography Christopher Rejano
Sound Design and Original Music Pornchanok Kanchanabanca
Photo by Sarah Hahn
III The Stretch
We’re in the announcer’s booth at a racetrack. It’s the 108th running of the million dollar El Dorado Stakes. Tension builds as the chronicler calls out race positions of Daddy’s Little Dumpling, Bold Defender, Scrod, Wouldya- Couldya, Fata Morgana, Whistlin’ Pete, My Enormous Ego…An exercise in aural gymnastics seasoned by a few double entendres.
When the horses get to the finish, they don’t stop running around and around and around the track. Professionally hanging in, the announcer gradually conjectures on the animals’ personalities, what they’re thinking. As he grows exhausted, they become merely “black” and “brown.” “Sadly, you realize by now, there’s no way to know…”
The piece ends with an unexpected spiritual, poetic turn (and event). Our protagonist is deeply affected. The best of the three, Stretch is wildly imaginative and articulate. Letts – as he’s proven multiple times on Broadway – is a wonderful actor as well as an award winning playwright. We’re with him every breathless length.
Announcer Tracy Letts
Directed by Anna D. Shapiro
Director of Photography Camrin Patramale
Sound Design and Editor Allen Cordell
Steppenwolf Theater – Stream September 29 – October 24, 2021
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Productions that premiered at Steppenwolf including August: Osage County and Pass Over—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary.
