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Successfully tackling a number of thought-provoking issues without losing its sense of humor.

Saturday May 05, 2001.     By

Theater Feed

Can capitalists really live with social idealists? Can we ever forgive others for the past? Worse still, can we ever forgive ourselves?

Steppenwolf's season opener, Skylight, written by acclaimed contemporary British playwright David Hare, successfully tackles a number of these thought-provoking issues without losing its sense of humor. The drama, nominated for a 1997 "Best Play" Tony Award during its inaugural New York City run, tells a very believable tale of anguished modern love.

The story goes as follows: Tom Sergeant, a whiskey-drinking Thatcherian capitalist restauranteur -- "Citizen Kane, only with yellow pages," complains his 18-year-old son Edward -- tries to reconcile with his young ex-lover and ex-employee Kyra Hollis. Hollis, in the three years since her letters were discovered by Sergeant's wife, has become a school teacher and a vivid anti-Randian.

Now that Sergeant's wife has died, Sergeant and Hollis can no longer enjoy the purity of their former trysting infidelity. Without Sergeant's wife's sedating presence, two individuals with very different philosophies of life clash. They argue about betrayal, guilt, whether "enterprise culture" and the "caring professions" can live together in harmony, ... and they love each other desperately.

Steppenwolf regular Francis Guinan, who plays Sergeant, is a fantastic actor. Though his character verges on stereotypically capitalist (one of the otherwise clever script's major flaws), the role is thoroughly and expertly explored. Aside from too-emotional lesser lines, Sally Murphy was strong as the female lead. Her body awareness fleshed out an otherwise equally stereotypical character, highlighting the role's delicate irony.

Aside from a short first scene in which Kyra and Sergeant's son Edward looked very uncomfortable with each other and the script (while this was undoubtedly intended, it made for uncomfortable viewing), the staging moved smoothly. Despite a vast set which physically dwarfed the actors, the show was intimately personal.

Skylight will run through November 2, at the Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, Tuesday-Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 5 & 9, and Sunday at 3 & 7. Tickets range from $31.50-$36.50. For more information, call (312) 335-1888.