Hystopolis Productions
Performing at Red Hen Productions, 5123 N. Clark
Tickets: 312-787-7387
Through August 9
The Adding Machine does not get produced very often, and that’s a shame. Elmer Rice’s play dealing with American Business and the advent of technology is, to some, one of the finest pieces of American drama. Hystopolis Productions, which is performing a version of this play using puppets, hits the mark occasionally, but misses the point at times.
The Adding Machine is a play that invites a film-noir style of production. Rice’s view of business and technology in this play is a decidedly negative one. People are so easily replaced by technology, until, toward the end, people become almost entirely unnecessary. For a play written in 1923, that’s quite something. Rice obviously looked upon advances in technology as something that would be man’s undoing. Rice’s socialist views in this play are consistent with the time he lived in, but, interestingly, The Adding Machine is possibly more relevant than ever.
The Adding Machine is the story of Mr. Zero, an employee at a Macy’s-like department store, whose job it is to add columns of sales figures. Zero, whose has been in the same job for 25 years, is expecting a promotion, but when he is fired, he kills his boss. Mr. Zero is the perfect anti-hero – someone who is unable to understand the extent to which his inability to learn from the mistakes he himself has made. This inability to learn results in many negative consequences for Mr. Zero over the course of his life. From his marriage to a soul-killing wife, to a violent act he perpetrates at a baseball game, to his inability to declare his love for a co-worker, Mr. Zero’s life consists of a litany of missed opportunities and disappointments.
Hystopolis Productions, a 21 year-old puppet theatre, is tackling this very important work. In some respects, using puppets to tell this story is an interesting idea. However, the direction the production takes is somewhat inconsistent in tone. The production begins on a strong note, with Mrs. Zero delivering her five page condemnation of her hapless husband. Mrs. Zero, as portrayed by Hystopolis, is a grotesque puppet that is old, sagging and bitter. Later in her speech, she is simply portrayed just by a pair of red lips – lips that grow larger as her condemnation of Mr. Zero continues. When we see Mr. Zero, we see a small man, a man who has to scream for attention. The puppetry, the props and the scenery are perfect, and show that Hystopolis has a good handle on the style of the play. For instance, “The Boss” is portrayed by an imposingly large cigar-wielding puppet that blows smoke of out of the top of his head, making an appropriate comment on American industry. The puppets are very inventive, and may of them take several people to operate. Most impressive is “The Guide,” a large smiling puppet made mostly of air, with a colorful pair of shoes accentuating his dialogue, and “The Fixer,” a snake-like creature that lauds the technological advances - showing Zero how unimportant he truly is.
Where the production breaks down, however, is in the performance of the actor voicing Mr. Zero. To get the proper feel of the play, we need to understand that Zero is not an unwitting victim. His speech to the Jury at his trial, in particular, should illustrate the extent to which he has had a hand in his own decline. When Zero is played as he is in this production, we do not feel sorry for him, we grow impatient with him. Someone who has nothing to do with his own life is simply dull to watch.
The performances of Mrs. Zero and Daisy Diana Dorothea Devore, however, are very good. With this Mrs. Zero, we understand where Zero’s “maybe she’ll die soon” comes from, and Daisy’s inexplicable devotion to Mr. Zero is eventually her undoing.
The Adding Machine is truly an American classic, and the impressive production elements make Hystoplis’ production worth seeing, but on a thematic scale, it leaves something to be desired.
