Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Theater Guides

A play filled with violence, revenge, hate, greed, sex...and humor.

Saturday May 05, 2001.     By Lila Stromer

Theater Feed

The Theatre
2851 N. Halsted, Chicago
Box Office: 773-281-2600
Ticketmaster: 312-902-1500
Open Run

Tracy Letts has written a powerful character study about the seedy side of life. This play is filled with violence, revenge, hate, greed, sex - and humor. Somehow Mr. Letts has taken the worst in humans, put it on stage, and actually sprinkled humor through the violence.

Killer Joe is about the Smith family - a redneck, supremely dysfunctional family living in a trailer park in Texas. Mr. Letts has taken every stereotype of the trailer park, Deep South, dirt poor, and uneducated and made very real, very distinct and very ugly characters. His play opens with blinding lightning and the play never stops from that opening but continues on like a roller-coaster ride that has no operator. There are several posted warnings that this play is for mature audiences and that it contains a strobe light, nudity, gunshots, and cigarette smoke. It also involves realistic violence, lots of blood, and flying set pieces. It is a crazy, harrowing, deeply disturbing play that contains touches of humanity and glimpses of lost spirit. It is, amazingly, Mr. Letts' first play.

Chris Smith (John Hoogenakker) is the son living with his mother, who steals cocaine. Ansel (Marcus Nelson) is Chris's father, who doesn't have the resources (and even if he did, he doesn't have the desire) to help his son from a situation that will kill him. Sharla (Amy Landecker) is Ansel's wife and Chris's stepmother, a woman who, like this rest of this family, thinks of her own petty desires first. Julia Sobaski plays Dottie, Chris's sister. Dottie, aptly named, lives in a world of her own - but it's a world that touches all of her family. Even they recognize that Dottie has none of the evil that runs through them. She is a lost soul with the simplicity of a child.

Into their world, at Chris's invitation, comes Killer Joe Cooper (Andrew Hawkes), full-time cop and part-time assassin. He is hired to kill Chris's mother for the insurance money. When they can't pay him up-front, he decides that Dottie will become his retainer. It is from this action that the rest of the play spins into its downward spiral. The deceit they play on each other becomes more and more twisted, as does the anger that erupts in the last half of Act II. The collision course started in Act I ends with full terror reigning by the end of the play. Yet somehow, Mr. Letts gives us breathing room in between, to laugh and shake our heads at these folks. We even see touches of humanity, though only in glimpses, such as when Sharla actually listens to Dottie's story about her only boyfriend - from the 3rd grade. He gives us just enough leash to relax before yanking us back into the dark world of these characters.

All the actors give bravura performances - the stage is littered with their blood, sweat and tears by curtain call. They look beat, as well they should - they have given us their all for over two hours. As the press kit says, this is the kind of theater Chicago is known for and it is done with full power. This is clearly an ensemble piece and all the actors are superb in their roles. This is one of the most talented and even casts I have ever seen grace a stage. With that noted, I would like to give extra attention to Julia Sobaski. Her performance is breathtaking as a woman who has no real conception of the pain she has lived through in her life. Her very breathing and eye blinks are in a different time frame than the other characters.

The designers for this production also worked as a well-greased ensemble. The shabby and grungy set is lit by old, rag-tag lamps and the costumes are even more filthy and flimsy than the furniture. George Xenos (sets), Greg MacPherson (lights) and Jana Stauffer (costumes) have created the perfect atmosphere. J. David Brimmer (Fight Staging) has obviously taught these actors well - the violence is terrifyingly real. All these parts have been brought together seamlessly by Wilson Milam, the director. He directed the original 1993 production at Evanston's Next Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland) production, the 29th Street Rep (NYC) production, the Bush Theatre (London) production which was transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End, and also directed the off-Broadway production which ran for 9 months. He has taken a deeply moving and disturbing play and presented it with full terror and angst.

This play has seen other productions all around the world and has been presented in 12 languages. Mr. Letts has given the world a sad and pathetic glimpse into the ugly side of America, but he has done it marvelously well.

I strongly recommend this play, but it truly is for mature audiences only. It is thought-provoking, disturbing, and violent.